Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold slipped 0.4% to close under $1,798 after dovish comments from Jerome Powell stoked risk appetite, undercutting safe-haven assets. The metal hit an intraday higher above $1,813 before sliding back.

Testifying before Congress for a second day, the Powell underscored his commitment to ultra-loose monetary policies like quantitative easing and near-zero interest rates. He dismissed concerns that short-term spikes in inflation will trigger higher interest rates, saying it may take more than three years to meet the central bank's inflation goals.

Wall Street cheered the Fed Chair's assurances that the easy-money spigot will not soon be turned off. The Dow rallied 1.3% while the S&P 500 jumped 1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 0.6%.

Safe-haven Treasuries sold off on the surge in risk appetite, lifting yields on benchmark 10-year notes above 1.4% for the first time in a year.

Although gold has come under in recent weeks because of rising bond yields, the combination of increased inflationary pressure and the Fed's commitment to easy money is bullish for the metal in the longer term. Near-zero interest rates and quantitative easing pressure the dollar by making it less attractive to Forex traders seeking higher returns. A weaker dollar, in turn, supports gold and other commodities by making them less expensive overseas.

The other precious metals were higher, with silver rising 0.6% while platinum and palladium added 1.5% and 3.7%, respectively.

At the Comex close: April gold dropped $8 to $1,797.90; March silver picked up 17 cents to $27.86; April platinum climbed $18.20 to $1,257.90; and June palladium climbed $86.80 to $2,431.50 an ounce.