Gold Flat on Fed Tapering, Syria Uncertainty

by Christopher Freeburn | September 9, 2013 4:49 pm

[1]Gold was unchanged in Monday trading as investors sifted conflicting tea leaves, trying to discern when the Federal Reserve would begin trimming economic stimulus and whether the U.S. would bomb Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons.

On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that American job creation in August was weaker than expected. However, that countered a flurry of positive economic reports in recent weeks. The Fed has signaled that it will begin tapering its monthly bond-buying as soon as the economy is strong enough to handle it.

With U.S. President Barack Obama’s efforts to persuade Congress to authorize military action against Syria in serious doubt, Russia on Monday proposed a deal under which the regime of Bashar al-Assad would turn over it chemical weapons stockpile to international observers, potentially averting U.S. airstrikes.

Gold futures for December delivery stayed flat at $1,386.70 per ounce on Monday, according to CME Group[2]. Gold traded as high as $1,395 and as low as $1,381.90. Gold bullion closed in London at $1,388, according to BullionVault[3].

Silver futures for December delivery fell 0.7% to $23.72 per ounce. Monday’s high for silver was $24.25, while the low was $23.44.

Gold and silver funds sank in Monday trading.

• The SPDR Gold Shares (GLD[4]) dipped 0.2%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (IAU[5]) also slid 0.2%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (SLV[6]) moved down 0.6%.

Gold and silver mining ETFs declined during the day.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX[7]) dropped 1.2%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (GDXJ[8]) fell 0.3%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL[9]) also slipped 0.3%.

Gold mining shares mostly pulled back on Monday.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM[10]) sank 2.2%.
• Barrick Gold (ABX[11]) rose 0.6%.
• Eldorado Gold (EGO[12]) tumbled 4.3%.
• Goldcorp (GG[13]) fell 0.8%.
• Kinross Gold (KGC[14]) declined 0.7%.
• Newmont Mining (NEM[15]) moved down 0.2%.
• NovaGold Resources (NG[16]) dipped 0.5%.
• Yamana Gold (AUY[17]) dropped 1.2%.

Silver mining shares retreated during the day.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines (CDE[18]) slid 2%.
• Hecla Mining (HL[19]) declined 0.6%.
• Pan American Silver (PAAS[20]) fell 1.3%.
• Silver Wheaton (SLW[21]) decreased 1%.
• Silver Standard Resources (SSRI[22]) dropped 1.7%.

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.

Source URL: https://investorplace.com/2013/09/gold-flat-on-fed-tapering-syria-uncertainty/

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