Gold, Silver Drop on Ongoing EU Debt Worries

by Andrew Burger | March 12, 2012 1:05 pm

Gold and silver are lower starting the week as bond market investors appear to be moving their focus from Greece to Portugal and the International Swaps & Derivatives Association Friday announced the Greek debt swap accord triggers credit default swap payouts.

Spot gold was down 0.7% midday Monday, having traded as high as $1,705.30 and as low as $1,691.30, according to Kitco market data[1]. The London afternoon reference price was fixed at $1,697.50, a $10 per ounce rise from Friday’s reference price.

Spot silver was showing a 1.7% loss, bid at $33.75 with an ask price of $33.85. The morning high as of time of writing was $34.06 and the low was $33.37. Monday’s reference price was set at $33.77 in the London a.m., 10 cents per ounce below Friday’s reference price.

Chances that Greece will not be the only EU country forced to restructure its debt were increasing, with bond market investors now focusing on Portugal, according to an MSNBC report[2]. Also heightening financial system and bank threats was ISDA’s Friday ruling[3] that the enactment of collective action clauses by Greece constitutes a credit event that triggers CDS payouts.

The dollar price of gold bullion dropped below $1,700 per ounce in London morning trade Monday, continuing a slide that began in Asian trading, according to BullionVault’s London Gold Market Report[4].

“Gold’s latest behavior has been rather volatile over the past week,” according to the latest commentary from Swiss precious metals refiner MKS, which added that gold last week was “battered by the economic news (and) continues to look vulnerable on the charts.”

Gold and silver trusts also were moving lower in U.S. stock exchange trading.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD[5]) was moving lower, down nearly 0.8%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU[6]) was down around 0.66%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV[7]) was down some 1.6%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were moving lower as well.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX[8]) was down around 1.5%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ[9]) was showing losses of around 0.82%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL[10]) was down some 1.45%.

Gold mining shares were showing sharp losses, with NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG[11]) showing losses of more than 4.5%.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM[12]) was showing steep losses of around 2.7%.
• Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX[13]) was down around 0.65%.
• Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO[14]) was lower, down around 0.7%.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG[15]) was down more than 1.65%.
• Kinross Gold (NYSE:KGC[16]) was dropping sharply as well, down between 1.5% and 1.65%.
• Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM[17]) was down more than 2%.
• NovaGold Resources was dropping fast and hard, down some 4.6%.
• Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY[18]) was down more than 2.4%.

Silver mining shares also were making significant drops, Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI[19]) the exception.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE[20]) was showing sharp losses, down more than 3.1%.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL[21]) was down more than 2.8%.
• Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS[22]) was showing losses of some 4.8%.
• Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW[23]) was down around 1.25%.
• Silver Standard Resources was showing gains of around 0.5%.

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/2012/03/gold-silver-drop-on-ongoing-eu-debt-worries-mining-stocks/

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