Gold headed for best month since December, despite a slow week. Meanwhile, Palladium rose above $3,000 an ounce for the first time in early trading on concerns over a shortage of the metal used in autocatalysts.
Gold has upticked on traders buying the dips this morning after the yellow metal lost a few dollars an ounce on new economic data. Both personal income and spending for March rose in the U.S., 21.1% and 4.2%, respectively. The PCE Price Index rose 0.5% while economists had predicts a 0.3% rise.
Front-month gold futures dropped 0.3% Thursday to settle at $1,768.30 an ounce on Comex. The June contract is down 0.5% in the four days of the week. It has risen 3.1% this month after dropping in January, February and March. Gold climbed $372 — or 24% — in 2020 because of uncertainty about the economy and the pandemic. The June contract is currently up $2.60 an ounce to $1,770.90 and the DG spot price is $1,770.00.
Spot palladium gained 1.1% Thursday to $2,973.50 an ounce. It touched a record $2,981.99 an ounce Thursday. The metal has advanced 3.6% so far this week amid strong industrial demand. Palladium is up 13% this month after rising in February and March. It rallied 26% in 2020. Currently, the DG spot price is up $27.40 an ounce to $2991.00.
GDP expanded at a 6.4% annualized rate in the first quarter of the year, according to the Commerce Department’s preliminary estimate, compared with 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Personal consumption surged 10.7%, the second-fastest quarterly rate since the 1960s. Meanwhile, U.S. weekly initial jobless claims fell to another pandemic-era low in a report released Thursday.
Higher Treasury yields also made gold a less attractive option than other assets.
Investors are awaiting core inflation figures Friday and global manufacturing data next week for further signals on the state of the pandemic-hit economy.
The COVID-19 virus has killed almost 3.17 million people worldwide and sickened more than 150.5 million. About 21% of the cases — and 18% of the deaths — are in the U.S. The country has almost 32.3 million cases, more than any other nation. Meanwhile, is India reporting more than 300,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases a day as global cases surge.
Front-month silver futures fell 0.1% Thursday to $26.09 an ounce on Comex. The July contract lost 0.1% in the first four days of the week. Silver is up 6.3% in April after dropping in February and March. It gained 47% in 2020. Currently, the July contract is up $0.130 an ounce to $26.215 and the DG spot price is $26.13.
Spot platinum declined 1.3% Thursday to $1,203.60 an ounce and retreated 2.6% in the first four days of the week. Platinum is up 0.7% in April after trading flat in March. The autocatalyst metal rose 11% in 2020. The DG spot price for platinum is currently up $21.00 an ounce to $1,221.00.
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