Europe Drags Gold Lower

Published on Monday, 07 May 2012 18:02 Written by Todd Shriber

New York, May 7^th (TradersHuddle.com) –  No surprise here: Political calamity in Europe over the weekend pressured gold and other precious metals to start the week. Comex gold for June delivery fell $6.10, or 0.4%, to $1,639.10 an ounce. That’s four losing days in the past five for the yellow metal. It can be said that Monday’s losses were telegraphed as the euro plunged to its lowest levels since January during Asian trading Sunday night. An uptick in the dollar against other major currencies also doomed gold today.

Friday was the only day in the past five that gold closed higher, but futures still fell more than 1% last week. The other precious metals also closed lower on the day. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) and the iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU) each lost a quarter of percent as markets absorbed the French and Greek election drama.

In Greece, many voters backed fringe parties, rejecting the nation’s two major political parties, which had supported tough austerity measures, according to MarketWatch. What that means is, perhaps to no one’s surprise, is that Greece is without a coalition government. Arguably, that edges the "G" in PIIGS closer to needing a bailout, departure from the euro common currency, or both.

In France, socialist François Hollande defeated incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy. This is seen as a blow for those that favor austerity in France because Hollande is expected to extol the virtues of France, the Euro Zone’s second-largest economy, growing its way out of its fiscal woes. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition suffered some setbacks in state elections.

Copper was able to close slightly higher and that helped the iPath DJ-UBS Copper TR Sub-Index ETN (NYSE: JJC) to a close in the green. The miners were rejected though as the Global X Copper Miners ETF (NYSE: COPX) slid almost 1%.

The other precious metals offered nothing better. The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) lost two-thirds of a percent on light volume, but this chart is getting more complicated by the day. Platinum futures closed lower, but the ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: PPLT) found its way to a slightly higher finish, but the ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: PALL) dropped almost 0.6%.

Precious metal miners continued to get slaughtered. The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL) has violated support at $20 after losing 2% on strong volume today. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) lost nearly 1% on above average turnover while the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDJX) plunged almost 3% on strong volume. GDXJ set a new 52-week low today.