Gold was heading lower and silver holding on to slight gains Friday as January new-home sales were better than expected and consumer confidence rose to a higher-than-expected level. Spot gold was down 0.37% around 10:50 a.m. Friday, having traded as high as $1,781.80 and as low as $1,770.30. The London morning fixed reference price was fixed at $1,778.50, $1.50 an ounce higher than the Thursday afternoon reference price, according to Kitco market data.
Spot silver was showing a 2.16% gain, bid at $35.41 with an ask price of $35.51. The morning high as of time of writing was $35.78, and the low was $35.21. Friday’s reference price was set at $35.57 in the London a.m., $1.02 cents an ounce above Thursday’s reference price.
New single-family home sales increased at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 321,000 in January, the Census Bureau reported, down 0.9% below December’s revised 324,000 rate but 3.5% above the January 2011 estimate of 310,000 and above the 315,000 consensus estimate.
The Reuters-University of Michigan Index of Consumer Sentiment rose to a substantially higher-than-expected 75.3 in February, a 0.4% monthly gain bolstered by improving job prospects.
Gold bullion was hovering around $1,780 an ounce in London morning trading Friday after falling slightly from hitting a three-month high, BullionVault reported in its daily London Gold Market report.
Gold looked set to record a 3% gain heading into the weekend. A pause is likely following this week’s strong upward run. “Gold prices have moved up $40 [in two days], so people will take time to digest these prices,” noted one Mumbai gold dealer.
Gold trusts were lower, while the iShares Silver Trust was higher Friday morning:
The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was moving lower, down nearly 0.2%.
The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was showing losses of around 0.2%.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up around 0.2%.
The gold and silver mining ETFs were showing losses on the day thus far:
The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was around 0.7% lower.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was showing losses of around 0.7%.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was down around 0.3%.
Gold mining shares were mixed though mostly lower, with Eldorado Gold shares moving sharply higher:
Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing gains of around 0.5%.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down around 0.75%.
Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was up nearly 2.7%.
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was around 1.4% lower.
Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was up more than 0.4%.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was down around 2.25%.
NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) was down some 0.1%.
Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was down around 0.1%.
Silver mining shares were heading south, Pan American Silver the exception:
Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was moving lower, down around 0.75%.
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was between 0.2% and 0.4% lower.
Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing gains of around 0.15%.
Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was down around 0.6%.
Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was nearly 1.3% lower.
Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.
As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
