Daily Gold Update

Source:Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

AustinGold held all of yesterday's 1.5% rise, closing unchanged at $1,825.40, as support from mixed data and bets on slowing rate hikes was offset by rising equities and an uptick in the dollar.

All three major US stock indexes rallied more than 1.5% after consumer confidence hit an eight-month high in December, stoking risk appetite. The Conference Board's survey reported fewer worries about the economy as inflation cools.

Leavening the optimism, the National Association of Realtors reported US existing-home sales fell 7.7% in November as high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty weighed on buyers. It was the tenth straight month of declines, the longest streak on record. Homes sales are now down more than 35% from one year ago.

The dollar edged up 0.2% as the yen repeated slightly from yesterday's 3.8% surge. The yen's biggest rally in 24 years came after the BOJ said it would lift caps on government bond yields. Gold tends to move inversely with the dollar as it is priced in dollars for global trade, becoming cheaper overseas when the buck and pricier when it rises.

Gold received support today from expectations that the Fed is almost done with rate hikes. Fed fund futures traders are pricing for rates to top out around 4.85% in May and then decline to under 4.4% by year end.

Lower rates weigh on yields, reducing the opportunity cost for holding it instead of bonds as a safe-haven asset.

The other precious metals were lower, with silver dipping 0.3% while platinum and palladium dropped 1.1% and 3.9%, respectively.

At the Comex close: February gold was flat at $1,825.40; March silver dipped 8 cents to $24.19; January platinum shed $11 to $1,002; and March palladium lost $66.70 to $1,666.80 an ounce.