Gold Continues to Hit Record Prices, Silver Sharply Higher

by Andrew Burger | July 18, 2011 11:11 am

Record gold prices were hit Monday morning as persisting concerns over EU and U.S. debt continued to hang over world financial markets.  Spot gold traded as high as $1601.80 an ounce earlier this morning and was quoted at $1,599 Bid, $1,600 Ask around 10:20 a.m., having been set at $1,599 an ounce at the London p.m. fix.  Silver was trading above $40 an ounce for the first time since early May, quoted at $40.25 Bid, $40.35 Ask, having been set at $40.33 an ounce in London.  Silver has gained more than 15% in the last two weeks.

Gold broke to new all-time highs and silver overcame important technical resistance zones last week, with the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV[1]) closing up 7% and the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD[2]) ending the week up 3.30%.

InvestorPlace technical analyst Serge Berger shows how the charts favor gold in this report[3].

Gold prices are trading higher despite the dollar rising against the euro, as EU finance ministers prepare to meet on Thursday to try and put together a longer term support package for Greece.  The cost of insuring EU government debt against default rose to a record after the European Banking Authority reported that 8 out of 90 European banks failed the latest quarterly stress tests, and a larger number, including some of the EU’s largest banking groups, need to raise capital in order to meet requirements.

Turning to equity markets, gold and silver ETFs were higher in Thursday morning trading, with the iShares Silver Trust sharply higher.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD[2]) was up some 0.4%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU[4]) was up about the same.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV[1]) was up more than 2.8%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were also trading higher.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX[5]) was up around 1.4%.
• The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ[6]) was up 1.9%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL[7]) was trading up around 2.0%.

Shares of gold mining majors and juniors were higher, with Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM[8]) and NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG[9]) the biggest gainers.

• Agnico Eagle Mines  (NYSE:AEM[10]) was up around 0.4%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX[11]) was down more than 1.2%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG[12]) was trading between 1.2% and 1.4% higher.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM[8]) was up more than 2.0%.
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG[9]) was trading some 3.6% higher.

Silver mining shares were also trading higher, with Hecla Mining (HL) leading the way.

• Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE[13]) was trading around 1.8% higher.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL[14]) was up more than 2.5%.
• Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ:PAAS[15]) was nearly 0.3% higher.
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE:SLW[16]) was up around 1.6%.
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (NASDAQ:SSRI[17]) was trading 1.1% higher.

The author does not hold positions in any of the above-mentioned investments.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2011/07/record-gold-prices-silver-stocks-miners/

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