Daily Gold Update

Source: Dr. Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold slipped 0.5%, consolidating gains from Friday's explosive 3.7% rally. As U.S. factory orders unexpectedly declined and China's services sector slowed, U.S. and global equities fell again. Traders liquidated some of Friday's gold profits to cover losses, according to Reuters. Silver fell 1.8% while platinum lost 0.4% and palladium 0.1%.

At the close: August gold slipped $8.20 to $1,613.90; July silver fell 51 cents to $28.01; July platinum dropped $5.90 to $1,427.30; and September palladium dipped 10 cents to $613.90.

After Friday's shockingly bad non-farms payroll report, analysts are virtually unanimous in their expectations of another round of quantitative easing (QE3) from the Fed. Bank of America economist Michelle Meyer told CNBC that another round of easing "is inevitable" by September. Vincent Reinhart, Morgan Stanley's chief U.S. economist, thinks there's an 80% chance that a new quantitative easing program will be announced at the June FOMC. He expects bond purchases of $525 billion over nine months. With today's report that orders to U.S. factories unexpectedly fell in April for a second month, the odds are increasing. Monetary easing boosts the gold price because it debases the dollar, increasing long-term inflation risk.