Gold was holding steady while silver continued to lose ground Thursday morning as reports on U.S. GDP, unemployment and European Commission assistance for Spain rolled in.
Spot gold was unchanged and bid at $1,562.50 an ounce as of 11:56 a.m. Prices reached as high as $1,574.50 and dropped as low as $1,551.10, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was set at $1,558, $18 an ounce above Wednesday’s afternoon reference price.
Spot silver was showing a 0.57% loss, bid at $27.77 an ounce. The morning high as of time of writing was $28.14, with the low reaching $27.47. Thursday’s reference price was set at $28.10, 42 cents an ounce below Wednesday’s price fix.
Seasonally adjusted weekly claims for unemployment insurance rose for the fourth week in a row last week, the Labor Dept. reported. Private-sector employers added 133,000 jobs in May, according to ADP’s latest employment report, less than had been expected.
The Commerce Dept. revised its initial estimate for Q1 GDP down from 2.2% to 1.9%. Less spending than had been initially estimated on the part of government and consumers contributed to the revision, as did slower business inventory buildup and a growing U.S. trade deficit.
Looking to stem Spain’s brewing financial crisis, the European Commission offered the Spanish government more time to reduce its budget deficit as well as funding from the eurozone bank-rescue fund to help recapitalize the country’s ailing banks.
Gold bullion was steady and holding on to yesterday’s gains despite dollar strength versus the euro in London morning trading Thursday, BullionVault reported. “Gold, and to a lesser extent silver, decoupled from the rest of the [commodities] group on Wednesday and started to head higher,” BullionVault quoted a U.S. analyst.
“Finally, gold is behaving ‘normally’ and is ‘profiting’ from the fears surrounding the euro,” added Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg, “[resisting] the general downswing experienced by commodities and equities. Gold is proving to be good ‘risk insurance,’ [but] we believe there may still be downside risks if the U.S. dollar continues to remain strong.”
Gold and silver trusts were heading lower.
The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was showing losses of around 0.15%.
The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was down less than 0.1%.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was down some 0.6%.
Gold and silver mining ETFs were showing sizable losses Thursday morning.
The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was showing losses of around 1.3%.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was down around 3%.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was down some 2.7%.
Gold mining shares were showing substantial morning losses across the board.
Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was down around 2.65%.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down more than 0.4%.
Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was around 3.65% lower.
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was some 1.7% lower.
Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was down around 2.45%.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was showing losses of around 2.15%.
NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMEX:NG) was down around 4.7%.
Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was down some 2%.
Silver mining shares were also taking hard hits.
Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was down around 3.7%.
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was some 2.3% lower.
Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing losses of around 4%.
Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was down around 3.9%.
Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was some 3.2% lower.
As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this report.
