Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold slipped 0.9% but held near $1,804 as surging coronavirus cases lifted the dollar and prompted traders to take profits from the metal's four-session rally above $1,820, the highest level since September 2011.

The COVID-19 resurgence continues to gather momentum, with at least five states setting new single-day records for confirmed cases. The nation as a whole confirmed 62,000 new infections yesterday. The weekly average for daily cases rose to 52,820, an increase of 7,100 over one week ago.

The grim trend caused much of Wall Street to retreat, with the Dow and S&P 500 dropping 1.6% and 0.7%, respectively. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was an outlier, adding 0.3% on the back of strong performances by Amazon and Apple. 10-year Treasury yields plunged to a seven-week low.

The risk-off sentiment came despite some mildly positive employment news. Applications for new jobless benefits slipped slightly last week to 1.3 million, a four-month low, as layoffs slowed. More than 50 million new claims have been filed since mid-March, when the pandemic hit in earnest.

The dollar rose 0.4% against major rivals, rebounding from a four-week low as spooked traders went to cash. A rising dollar pressures gold and other commodities by making them more expensive in other currencies.

The other precious metals were mostly lower, with silver and platinum dropping 1% and 4.2%, respectively, while palladium added 1.3%.

At the Comex close: August gold slid 16.80 to $1,803.80; September silver dropped 20 cents to $18.96; October platinum surrendered $37.10 to $846.90; and September palladium rose $24.90 to $1,963.20 an ounce.