Daily Gold Update

Source: Dana Samuelson, American Gold Exchange

Austin, TX— Precious metals declined again Thursday as trader�s squared positions ahead of a long holiday weekend and hopes of news of renewed Fed easing coming out of this weekends annual Kansas City Fed�s Economic Symposium at Jackson Hole, Wyo. faded. December gold closed the New York session at $1,657.10, down $5.90, or 0.4%. Silver, platinum and palladium followed gold lower as well. September silver finished the session at $30.45, down $0.48, or 1.5%. October platinum closed at $1,503.70, down $16.60, or 1.1%. September palladium closed at $616.40, down 20.10, or 3.2%. Stocks also sold off today, with the Dow dropping as much as 122 points, falling below 13,000 to as low as 12,979 before rebounding modestly higher to close the New York session at 13,001, down 107, or 0.82%. The S&P 500 also declined, closing down 11, or 0.78%, at 1,399.

The U.S. economy continues to plod forward. According to the Commerce Department consumer spending increased 0.4% in July, which was a modest improvement over June, which was flat. Estimates for August are similar to those of July, with some of July�s momentum being expected to carry into August. Some economists are anticipating additional weakness in the fall because of sluggish income growth. According to the Labor Department, first-time applications for state unemployment benefits were unchanged from last week at 374,000. And while employers added 163,000 new workers in July, which was a significant improvement over June�s dismal 64,000 new jobs report, the overall unemployment level continues to hover at 8.3%. With the labor market not showing decisive improvement, the question of whether the Fed will ease monetary policy further at its September 12-13 policy meeting remains firmly on the table. Atlanta Fed Bank President James Lockhart told CNBC the central bank's decision would be a "close call."