Gold prices settled lower in Wednesday trading prior to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting. However, spot gold prices climbed slightly in after-hours trading after a reading of the minutes showed no sign that the Fed was in a hurry to raise interest rates.
Among mining stocks, Hecla Mining () jumped almost 5% after posting first-quarter silver production of 2.5 million ounces, up 32% from the same period last year. Hecla also said that gold production hit 46,269 ounces, nearly triple the amount produced during prior-year quarter.
Gold futures for June delivery dipped 0.2% to $1,305.90 per ounce on Wednesday, according to . Gold prices were as high as $1,314.30 and as low as $1,301.10. Bullion closed in London at $1,313, according to .
Silver futures for May delivery dropped 1.4% to settle at $19.77 per ounce. Wednesday’s high for silver was $20.10, while the low was $19.60.
Metal funds were mixed on Wednesday.
- The SPDR Gold Shares () inched up 0.2%.
- The iShares Gold Trust () added 0.2%.
- The iShares Silver Trust () fell 0.6%.
Mining ETFs gained during the day.
- The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF () rose 0.7%.
- The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF () increased 0.7%.
- The Global X Silver Miners ETF () climbed 0.5%.
Gold stocks mostly advanced on Wednesday.
- Agnico-Eagle Mines () fell 1.6%.
- Barrick Gold () added 0.8%.
- Eldorado Gold () slipped 0.5%.
- Goldcorp () rose 1.4%.
- Kinross Gold () gained 1.7%.
- Newmont Mining () edged up 0.1%.
- NovaGold Resources () dropped 1.1%.
- Yamana Gold () climbed 1.2%.
Like HL stock, other silver mining shares improved during the day.
- Coeur d’Alene Mines () increased 1.6%.
- Hecla Mining jumped 4.8%.
- Pan American Silver () rose 0.6%.
- Silver Wheaton () added 0.9%.
- Silver Standard Resources () climbed 1.2%.
As of this writing, Christopher Freeburn did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of contributed to this report.
