PRECIOUS-Gold down on U.S. govt shutdown, low demand

Gold market update for October 3rd: Gold rose over 2% on Wednesday, which is its biggest gain in over 2 weeks, on dollar weakness and the continued U.S. government shutdown. In early Thursday trading, gold is down 0.2% or around $8/oz as investors take profits from yesterday’s gains. The shutdown is causing delays in the collection and publishing of economic data as the usual jobs report for September will not be released tomorrow. This is leading some to say that the shutdown will delay any taper in the Fed’s QE stimulus programs. Besides the government shutdown, a looming deadline to raise the nation’s debt ceiling is on the horizon, and has the attention of many gold investors. And while it’s too early to know for sure, preliminary data out of China shows that gold demand may not be as robust as first thought. Read more…