Bargain hunters stepped in to take advantage of the $176 correction in the price of gold

The gold price climbed $25.20 to $1,592 per ounce after trading as high as $1601 per ounce early Friday morning. Bargain hunters stepped in to take advantage of the $176 correction in the price of gold that has occurred in the month of December. Weakness in the U.S. dollar against the euro helped boost precious metals and the rest of the commodities complex. Silver advanced nearly 2% to $29.74 per ounce while copper climbed 2.7% to $3.35 per pound.

While the price of gold moved lower on Thursday, silver snapped a three-day losing skid by rebounding modestly. The spot price of silver advanced $0.14, or 0.5%, to $29.06 per ounce. Gold’s sister precious metal had reached an intra-day high of $29.38, but pared its gains as the U.S. dollar bounced back against the euro currency. The euro still managed to climb against the greenback, however, but by only 0.3% to 1.3020.

Weakness in the gold price continued to pressure shares of gold mining companies, as the AMEX Gold Bugs Index (HUI) slid 1.5% to 501.40. In doing so, the HUI – comprised of the world’s largest gold producers – reached its lowest closing level since June 27th of this year. Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM) and Harmony Gold (HMY) were two of the sector worst performers yesterday, with declines of 4.8% and 4.9%, respectively. Newmont Mining (NEM) was one of the only gold stocks to finish in positive territory, albeit by just 0.2% at $61.76 per share. Gold mining stocks rose across the board early Friday on strength in the gold price and buoyant global equity prices.

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