Gold, Silver Rebound

Published on Thursday, 26 April 2012 18:17 Written by Todd Shriber

Following Wednesday’s losses at the hands of what trades viewed as a disappointing statement from the Federal Open Market Committee, gold and silver turned solid Thursday performances. Comex gold for June delivery added $18.20, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,660.50 a troy ounce. That move was helped by a modest decline in the U.S. dollar as the PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bullish (NYSE: UUP) finished slightly in the red on the day.

Supportive economic data also lent a hand to gold’s risk-asset ways. The National Association of Realtors said pending home sales rose 4.1% in March to the highest level since April 2010. The index jumped to 101.4 in March from an upwardly revised 97.4 in February. Gold’s good day resulted in a two-week closing high for the yellow metal as traders perhaps came to grips with the fact that there probably won’t be another round of quantitative easing and low interest rates through late 2014 are still supportive of higher gold prices.

The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) and the iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU) both added almost 0.9% on the day. May silver futures closed near their intraday highs helping the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) to a light volume gain of almost 1.1% and a close above the psychologically important $30 area.

The risk on tenor to the day powered copper higher, helping the iPath DJ-UBS Copper TR Sub-Index ETN (NYSE: JJC) to a gain of almost 2%. The Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE: COPX) added three-quarters of a percent while the iShares MSCI Chile Investable Market Index Fund (NYSE: ECH) closed above $67 on strong volume.

It was a decent day for the other white metals as the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: PPLT) added 0.9% on light volume. The ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: PALL) continued to be the most impressive of the pair, jumping 1.3% on the day. Palladium and gold may benefit from China’s shift toward consumption-driven growth from an economy fueled by investment, Bloomberg reported, citing Barclays Capital.

Is this capitulation for the miners? Maybe. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL) added another 0.9% on volume that was once again close to triple the daily average. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) suffered a small loss while the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) added almost 2% on the day.