Gold, Silver Soften as Greek Talks Drag On

by Andrew Burger | February 8, 2012 11:59 am

Silver and gold were moving lower Wednesday morning as Greece’s prime minister and governing coalition continue their attempt to agree on new austerity measures. Gold and silver were down despite the dollar weakening to a two-month low [1]against the euro, which rose early Wednesday based on a big compromise by the ECB regarding its Greek sovereign bond holdings.

Spot gold was 0.3% lower, bid at $1,739.60 per ounce with an ask price of $1.740.60. Spot gold traded as high as $1.749.70 and as low as $1.734.30. The London afternoon fixed reference price came in at $1,746, $22 per ounce higher than Tuesday’s price fix, according to Kitco market data[2].

Spot silver was showing a loss of 0.15% an ounce, bid at $34.10 with an ask price of $34.20. The morning high as of time of writing was $34.50 and the low was $33.84. Wednesday’s reference price was set at $34.37 in the London a.m., $1.09 per ounce above Tuesday’s fixed reference price.

Big news broke on the eurozone debt crisis front even as Greece struggled to agree to the “Troika’s” latest austerity measures — the key to unlocking another round of emergency funding that is essential to the Greek government staying afloat financially. The ECB gave way and agreed to suffer along [3]with private Greek bondholders by taking a haircut on the Greek sovereign bonds it holds in exchange for new long-dated Greek debt — if talks eventually are successful.

The concession, which the ECB was fiercely and publicly resisting, addresses concerns that the promised next, $162.5 billion round of emergency funding and private bondholders’ concessions wouldn’t be enough to salvage Greece’s worsening economic and national budgetary problems.

Gold bullion prices were holding steady[4] just shy of $1,750 an ounce in London morning trading Wednesday, 2.2% above yesterday’s low, BullionVault reported in its London Gold Market report.

Gold bullion is up 9.6% while the S&P 500 is up 25% since the index hit a low of 1,349.24 last October, BullionVault’s Adrian Ash noted. A London gold bullion dealer said gold “faces significant resistance at $1,766, but above that look for $1,778-$1,798.”

Turning to stock exchange trading, gold and silver trusts were showing losses.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD[5]) was moving lower, down around 0.4%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU[6]) also was showing losses of around 0.4%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV[7]) was moving lower, down some 0.65%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were moving lower on balance.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX[8]) was trading flat to slightly lower.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ[9]) was showing losses of around 0.4%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL[10]) was down some 0.15%.

Gold mining shares were moving lower.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM[11]) was showing losses of around 0.2%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX[12]) was trading flat.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO[13]) was down some 1.2%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG[14]) was down nearly 0.9%.
• Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC[15]) was unchanged to slightly down.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM[16]) was down some 0.25%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG[17]) was showing losses of around 1.8%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY[18]) was down about 0.5%.

Silver mining shares were mixed, with Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE[19]) leading the way higher.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines was up nearly 1.6%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL[20]) was around 0.2% higher.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS[21]) was showing losses of about 0.55%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW[22]) was down nearly 0.3%.
• Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI[23]) was showing gains just shy of 1%.

As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault[24] contributed to this report.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/02/gold-silver-prices-gld-bullion-cde-mining-stocks-greek-debt/

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