AGE Daily Gold Update

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

3/14/2019: Gold falls on profit-taking, Brexit

Source: Bill Musgrave, American Gold Exchange

Austin — Gold fell 1.2% to close just above $1,295 as traders took profits from yesterday's jump to a two-week high above $1,308 and the dollar strengthened on Brexit uncertainty, dulling demand for alternate stores of value.

The British Parliament voted yesterday to rule out a so-called hard Brexit, or a departure from the EU without a trade treaty in place. The vote raised hope that Brexit would be delayed past its March 29 deadline, boosting the pound and weakening the dollar, which lifted gold in turn.

But Brexit concerns crept back into trading today when Parliament signaled that it may not approve the Brexit delay, driving the pound down 0.8% against the dollar. A rising dollar pressured gold and other commodities by making them more expensive overseas.

Weak data from China also weighed on gold. Industrial output slowed in the January-February period, indicating that the world's second-largest economy is off to a slow start to 2019. Weakness in China's economy undermines global gold demand because China is the world's largest buyer of gold and most other commodities.

The other precious metals were mostly lower, with silver and platinum dropping 1.8% and 1.7%, while outlier palladium rose 0.5%.

At the Comex close: April gold fell $14.20 to $1,295.10; May silver lost 29 cents to $15.17; April platinum dropped $14.60 to $827.10; and June palladium rose $7.90 to $1,514.60 an ounce, a new record.