Gold dropped in Tuesday trading after a report showed that Americans felt a little better about the U.S. economy this month. The metal declined as U.S. equities markets posted modest gains.
The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index climbed to a reading of 80.7 in January. That was up from a December reading of 77.5 and marked a five-month high for the index. It also topped the reading of 78 expected by economists.
Gold futures for February delivery fell 1% to $1,250.80 per ounce on Tuesday, according to . Gold traded as high as $1,262.30 and as low as $1,248.20. Bullion closed in London at $1,256, according to .
Silver futures for March delivery slid 1.5%, to $19.50 per ounce. Tuesday’s high for silver was $19.84, while the low was $19.46.
Metal funds declined on Tuesday.
- The SPDR Gold Shares () was flat.
- The iShares Gold Trust () sank 0.1%.
- The iShares Silver Trust () slid 0.2%.
Mining ETFs gained during the day.
- The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF () rose 2.1%.
- The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF () climbed 2.2%.
- The Global X Silver Miners ETF () added 1.2%.
Gold stocks mostly moved higher on Tuesday.
- Agnico-Eagle Mines () increased 1.6%.
- Barrick Gold () rose 1.4%.
- Eldorado Gold () gained 1%.
- Goldcorp () climbed 2.5%.
- Kinross Gold () moved up 1.8%.
- Newmont Mining () advanced 2%.
- NovaGold Resources () fell 1%.
- Yamana Gold () added 1.5%.
Silver mining shares advanced during the day.
- Coeur d’Alene Mines () rose 2.5%.
- Hecla Mining () added 1.3%.
- Pan American Silver () gained 3%.
- Silver Wheaton () increased 2.3%.
- Silver Standard Resources () climbed 3.4%.
As of this writing, Christopher Freeburn did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of contributed to this report.
