Gold Keeps On Running

Published on Wednesday, 01 February 2012 18:06 Written by Todd Shriber

New York, February 1^st (TradersHuddle.com) – Bullish economic data from China, Germany and the U.S. had investors embrace risk to some agree again. That meant  a departure from the U.S. dollar and that’s usually good news for gold. Gold for April delivery gained half a percent to settle at $1,749.50 a troy ounce in New York, good for the best closing price in two months. The PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP) was down almost half a percent today while the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) and the iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU) were both up just under 0.2%.

There have been six trading sessions since the Federal Reserve said it plans to keep interest rates close to zero into 2014 and gold has been higher on five occasions. Emerging markets demand for gold, helped by India, the world’s largest importer of the yellow metal is creeping back up again, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Strength in the precious metals complex was widespread today, so much so that gold was actually laggard of the bunch. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) tacked on 1.5%. The ETF is eying a move above $33 and from there it must conquer $35 to really jolt new buyers into market. The ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: PPLT) add 1.8% on volume that was roughly 40% above the daily average. That ETF could reclaim its 200-day moving average before the week is out if sentiment remains favorable.

The ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: PALL) snapped out of its recent doldrums with a 1.7% gain on almost double the average daily turnover. A move above $70 would almost certainly send this fund soaring.

Looking at the miners, it looks like investors might be taking a breather from these stocks and ETFs after some impressive January gains. Yes, the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) was slightly higher on the day, but the modest gain came on weak volume. The Market Vectors Junio Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) tacked on half a percent while the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL) jumped 1.5%, also on light volume.

There will be some new additions to the miners ETF crowd tomorrow when the iShares MSCI Global Silver Miners Fund (NYSE: SLVP) and the iShares MSCI Global Gold Miners Fund (NYSE: RING) debut. iShares, the world’s largest ETF sponsor, will also roll out the iShares MSCI Global Select Metals & Mining Producers Fund (NYSE: PICK) on Thursday.

Competing with GDX could prove difficult for any new fund, even one from iShares. The Market Vectors offering is almost six years old and has over $9.4 billion in assets under management.