Gold, silver and stock markets were in a positive mind-set early Tuesday, shrugging off eurozone debt concerns, as well as France and Austria losing their AAA credit ratings from Standard & Poor’s. Investors and traders were focused on positive reports on German and northeast regional U.S. manufacturing, a healthy auction of French treasury bills and China reporting slightly higher-than-expected Q4 GDP.
Spot gold was trading 1% higher Tuesday morning, with a bid price of $1,659.20 per ounce and an ask price of $1,660.20. Spot gold traded as high as $1,665.90 and as low as $1,655.20. The London afternoon reference price fix came in at $1,656, $21.50 per ounce higher than last Friday’s reference price, according to .
Newmont Mining (NYSE:) shares were down more than 3% following management’s latest guidance on 2012 production of gold and copper.
Spot silver was up over 1.55%, bid at $30.44 per ounce with an ask price of $30.54. The morning high as of time of writing was $30.69 and the low was $30.07. Friday’s reference price was set at $30.41 in the London a.m., 77 cents per ounce higher than last Friday’s price fix.
Market participants were prone to downplay S&P’s latest credit rating downgrades and negative watch outlooks. Boosting optimism was a smooth auction of French T-bills and a on economic sentiment, which jumped 32.2 points to -21.6 in January, its highest level since July 2011, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Also, although China reported that year-to-year Q4 GDP growth fell to its , the 8.9% print was better than expected.
The load weighing on markets was lifted further with the release of the New York Federal Reserve’s , which indicated that manufacturing activity expanded in the state. The general business conditions index rose five points to 13.5 on a monthly basis, while employment indices were positive and higher.
Gold bullion prices rose to in London morning trading Tuesday, and silver bullion rose to last week’s two-month high above $30.50, BullionVault reported in its London Gold Market Report.
“Gold price action is becoming increasingly indifferent to physical trade and far more susceptible to broader market headwinds,” says a note from Japanese trading house Mitsui’s London office.
Gold and silver trusts were showing strong gains on U.S. exchanges.
- The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:) was showing gains of around 1.4%.
- The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:) also was up nearly 1.4%.
- The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:) was up more than 2.4%.
The junior gold and silver mining ETFs also were moving higher, though the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:) was showing losses.
- The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF was down about 0.6%.
- The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:) was up around 1.6%.
- The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:) was up over 2%.
Gains in gold mining shares were muted, and shares of Newmont Mining were down sharply based on its on gold and copper production.
- Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:) was showing losses of some 1.1%.
- Barrick Gold (NYSE:) was down around 0.15%.
- Eldorado Gold (NYSE:) was up 1.5%.
- Goldcorp (NYSE:) was up more than 0.6%.
- Newmont Mining was down more than 3%.
- NovaGold Resources (AMEX:) was up about 0.3%.
- Yamana Gold (NYSE:) was trading flatly.
Silver mining shares were up Tuesday.
- Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:) was moving higher, up some 1.35%.
- Hecla Mining (NYSE:) was up around 2.35%.
- Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:) was up around 2.5%.
- Silver Wheaton (NYSE:) was showing gains of 1.5%.
- Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:) was up 1.35%.
As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of contributed to this report.
