Gold Plunges on Hedge Fund Selling, Budget Deal Hopes

by Christopher Freeburn | December 20, 2012 4:55 pm

Gold Silver GLD IAU SLV[1]Heavy end-of-year selling by hedge funds and signals of potential progress in U.S. budget talks sent gold tumbling in Thursday trading, falling below $1,650 an ounce for the first time in months.

Gold futures for February delivery dropped to $1,648 on Thursday, according to CME Group[2]. Gold traded as high as $1,672.80 and as low as $1,636. Gold bullion closed in London at $1,651, according to BullionVault[3].

Silver futures for February delivery sank to $29.96 per ounce. Thursday’s high for silver was $31.15, while the low was $29.66.

Gold and silver funds sank in Thursday trading.

Gold and silver mining ETFs also moved down during the day.

Gold mining shares mostly declined, with Goldcorp (NYSE:GG[10]) falling the most.

Silver mining shares mostly rose on Thursday.

As of this writing, Christopher Freeburn did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault[23] contributed to this report.

Endnotes:

  1. [Image]: https://investorplace.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/PreciousMetalsRecap.gif
  2. CME Group: http://www.cmegroup.com
  3. BullionVault: http://www.bullionvault.com
  4. GLD: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GLD
  5. IAU: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=IAU
  6. SLV: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SLV
  7. GDX: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GDX
  8. GDXJ: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GDXJ
  9. SIL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SIL
  10. GG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=GG
  11. AEM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AEM
  12. ABX: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=ABX
  13. EGO: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=EGO
  14. KGC: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=KGC
  15. NEM: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=NEM
  16. NG: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=NG
  17. AUY: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=AUY
  18. CDE: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=CDE
  19. HL: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=HL
  20. PAAS: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=PAAS
  21. SLW: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SLW
  22. SSRI: http://studio-5.financialcontent.com/investplace/quote?Symbol=SSRI
  23. BullionVault: http://www.bullionvault.com/

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2012/12/gold-plunges-on-hedge-fund-selling-budget-deal-hopes/