Daily Gold Update

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin— Gold surged 1.4% to close at a one-week high above $1,075 after a rout in global equities and escalating tensions in the Middle East spurred flights to safety.

">Stock markets fell around the world, with the Dow plunging more than 1.6% and the Global Dow almost 2.2%, after disappointing manufacturing data in China and the U.S. raised concerns about global growth.

China's Caixin PMI showed Chinese manufacturing fell again last month, marking ten straight months of contraction. Coming after last week's official PMI registered a slight uptick while remaining in negative, the new data calls into question the government's ability to stabilize the staggering economy through easy money policies. Chinese stocks tumbled 7% before trading was suspended on the Shanghai Exchange.

U.S. manufacturing also fell further into contraction last month, with ISM factory activity at its lowest point since June 2009, hammered by the strong dollar, weak exports, and shrinking domestic demand.

Demand for safe havens also driven by the growing conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran over the Saudi execution last week of an important Shiite cleric. Diplomatic relations between the nations have been terminated, raising fears about possible interruptions in oil supplies from the Middle East.

The other precious metals were mixed, with silver adding 0.3% while platinum and palladium, more heavily tied to industrial demand, lost 1% and 3.2%, respectively.

At the Comex close: February gold surged $15 to $1,075.20; March silver picked up 4 cents to $13.84; April platinum fell $8.70 to $884.50; and March palladium lost17.80 to $544.20 an ounce.