AGE Daily Gold Update

AGE Daily Gold Update presents a recap on today's action in the precious metals markets. View archives.

3/12/2024: Gold slips on profit-taking, CPI

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin — Gold slipped 1% to close at $2,166.10 on profit-taking after a slightly hotter-than-expected CPI report boosted Treasury yields and dollar, pressuring alternative assets. The gold price had risen more than $170 over the previous eight sessions to a series of new record highs. Silver dropped 1.3% to 24.19 an ounce.

The consumer price index for February rose 0.4%, as forecast, while the annual rate ticked up to 3.2% from 3.1% in January. The core CPI, factoring out volatile food and energy costs, also rose 0.4%, with the annual rate decreasing to 3.8% from 3.9% in January.

While year-on-year headline inflation was marginally higher in February, the markets had been bracing for an even hotter print, so the reaction among bond and currency traders was muted. Benchmark 10-year Treasury yields inched up a bit to 4.15% while the dollar picked up a meager 0.1% against major rivals.

Fed fund futures trading was little impacted, with the odds of an initial quarter-point rate cut in June remaining around 70%.

But traders took the occasion to take profits from gold’s stunning eight-day rally to a succession of new all-time highs.

Gold demand continues to be fueled by rate-cut expectations, ongoing geopolitical instability, aggressive bullion buying by central banks, and growing appetite for physical gold in China and India, the world’s leading cold-buying nations.

The other precious metals were mixed, with platinum dropping 1.3% while palladium picked up 0.8%.

At the New York spot close: gold slipped $22.50 to $2,166.10; silver slid 32 cents to $24.19; platinum fell $12.30 to $928.20; and palladium added $8.60, to $1,050.60 an ounce.