The precious metals sector turned sharply lower in mid-day trading on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar surged higher against a basket of foreign currencies. COMEX gold futures sunk from above $1,580 to as low as $1,553 per ounce, while silver futures dropped from near $28.60 to $27.71 per ounce. The U.S. Dollar Index – a trade-weighted composite measuring the dollar against several of the world’s most liquid fiat currencies, climbed from 82.031 to 82.609. The euro currency, which has been under significant pressure in recent weeks, fell 0.6% to 1.2462 against the greenback – its lowest level since July 2010. The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index (XAU) initially rose as much as 1.1% to 159.58, but later fell 1.7% to 155.17. Notable gold producers in the red included Agnico-Eagle Mines (AEM) and Kinross Gold (KGC) – which declined by 2.0% to $39.01 and by 2.0% to $8.12 per share. Follow us Kinross headed south despite positive commentary this morning from UBS analyst Brian MacArthur, who raised his price target on KGC to $12.25 from $12.00 and reiterated his Buy rating. The target increase came after Kinross sold its 50% stake in the Crixas mine in Brazil to a subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti (AU) for $220 million. “With the sale of Crixas, Kinross will be able to redeploy capital to core assets as it continues its project optimization process,� MacArthur wrote. �Crixas was considered a non-core asset in addition to being a non-operated property.� Among silver mining companies, Pan American Silver (PAAS) retreated 2.4% to $16.51 while Coeur d’Alene Mines (CDE) slipped 1.8% to $17.15 per share.

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