Gold and silver were recovering from yesterday’s sharp losses Thursday morning, the last trading day before the Easter holiday weekend. Spot gold was up 0.52% as of 11:36 am, having traded as high as $1,634.60 and as low as $1,620.60 an ounce, according to Kitco market data. The London afternoon reference price was set at $1,631, $10 an ounce higher than Wednesday’s afternoon reference price.
Spot silver was showing a 1.05% gain, bid at $31.69, with an ask price of $31.79. The morning high as of time of writing was $31.92 and the low was $31.16. Thursday’s reference price was set at $31.27 in the London am, 71 cents an ounce below Wednesday’s price fix.
Weekly, seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance fell to their lowest level in four years. The Labor Department reported that jobless claims fell by 6,000, to 357,000, the week ended March 31. The previous weekly figure was revised upward to 363,000, while the four-week moving average fell to 361,750 from 366,000 two weeks ago. The number of Americans receiving unemployment benefits dropped as well, though the number receiving extended unemployment benefits increased.
Spanish government bond yields jumped in European trading Thursday following a weak bond auction yesterday as concerns about a deeper-than-anticipated recession gripped markets, overwhelming the added liquidity the European Central Bank has been providing to banks via its Long-Term Refinancing Operations. Yields at an $11 billion auction of 10-year French government bonds rose from 2.91% to 2.98%, though the French Treasury was able to sell nearly its full allotment.
China’s service sector continues to expand, though the seasonally adjusted March HSBC Services Purchasing Managers Index dropped to 53.3 from February’s 53.9. A reading above 50 signals economic expansion.
Gold bullion prices were moving up as much as 0.7% from yesterday’s low in London morning trading Thursday, BullionVault reported in its London Gold Market report, even as the euro continued to slide lower against the dollar. London’s wholesale gold markets will be closed until Tuesday.
Bullion-market analysts and professionals have “turned bearish for the first time this year,” according to Bloomberg’s latest weekly survey. “Fifteen of 29 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to decline next week and five were neutral,” BullionVault quoted a Trading Gold news report, “the highest proportion since Dec. 30.”
Gold and silver trusts were higher Thursday morning.
The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was up around 0.94%.
The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up more than 0.6%.
The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was up more than 1.22%.
Gold and silver mining ETFs continued to fall.
The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was showing losses of around 0.95%.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was showing losses of around 1.35%.
The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was down around 0.25%.
Gold mining shares also were continuing their downward move.
Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing losses of around 0.37%.
Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) was down around 1.36%.
Eldorado Gold (NYSE:EGO) was down more than 0.5%.
Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was around 1.2% lower.
Kinross Gold Corp. USA (NYSE:KGC) was down more than 0.5%.
Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) was down around 0.6%.
NovaGold Resources (NYSEAMEX:NG) was sharply lower, down some 2.6%.
Yamana Gold (USA) (NYSE:AUY) was down more than 1.5%.
Silver mining shares were heading south as well to close out the holiday-shortened week.
Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) was showing losses of around 1.7%.
Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was down nearly 1.6%.
Pan American Silver (NASDAQ:PAAS) was showing losses of around 3%.
Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) was down around 1.5%.
Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ:SSRI) was down more than 2.1%.
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.
