Europe Pushes Metals Lower

Published on Tuesday, 26 June 2012 20:33 Written by Todd Shriber

Not that there were many, but if any hopes for significant progress out of this week’s European Summit existed, they have disappeared rapidly and the result is not good for gold and other precious metals. COMEX gold for August delivery lost $13.50, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,574.90 a troy ounce. Amid soaring Italian and Spanish bond yields, gold are having difficulty decoupling from the euro and convincing traders that its safe have status has been restored.

Gold has tumbled 5.8 percent this quarter, heading for the biggest such loss since 2004, as investors favored the dollar as a haven investment, according to Bloomberg News. With Tuesday’s losses in the futures pits, the iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU) lost two-thirds of a percent on volume that was well below the daily average. The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSE: GLD) lost three-quarters of a percent on volume that was extremely light.

GLD’s chart indicates a retest of support at $150 could be coming in the near-term. As for IAU, that chart shows a retest of support at $15 is a possibility.

The other precious metals were no better. COMEX silver for July delivery lost 48.1 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $27.037 a troy ounce. That sent the iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV), the largest ETF backed by physical silver, lower by 1.6% on thin trade. SLV is once again flirting with support at $26, but the worrisome factor silver bulls is in a market bereft of buyers, this could be the time when $26 is violated.

On the NYMEX, platinum futures for October delivery dropped 0.9 percent to $1,430.30 an ounce while palladium futures for September delivery slumped 2.2 percent to $593.70 an ounce, falling the most since May 23, Bloomberg reported. The ETFS Physical Palladium Shares (NYSE: PALL) fell 1.8% on weak turnover. The ETFS Physical Platinum Shares (NYSE: PPLT) gave less than 1% on volume that was barely 20% of the daily average.

The miners are getting weaker by the day as the Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL) gave up half a percent. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) slipped by 1.6% while the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) lost 1.5%. Volume was light across all three ETFs.