Gold and silver prices are gaining in trading today after the U.S. dollar weakened against the euro. Some upbeat economic data in the U.S. has boosted interest in riskier assets today.
At last check, spot gold was trading 0.1% higher at $1,607.60 an ounce. Spot gold prices are headed for their worst quarterly performance in more than three years. However, prices are still up more than 13% for the year.
Pradeep Unni, Senior Analyst at Richcomm Global Services, told Reuters that markets have now moved into a pretty rock-steady price range, with most investors on the sidelines ahead of the new year. Unni said that volatility too has declined substantially and in the immediate term it looks like gold will be associated with the other risky assets and may slip lower when there is a spike in the U.S. dollar. He added that the safe haven status of gold seems to have been tarnished a bit.
Gold ETFs are also higher in pre-market trading today in New York. At last check, the SPDR Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: GLD) was trading 0.16% higher at $156.29, the Market Vectors ETF Trust (NYSE: GDX) was trading 0.17% higher at $52.35, and the iShares Gold Trust (ETF) (NYSE: IAU) was trading 0.38% higher at $15.70.
Silver prices are also rising in trading today. At last check, spot silver was trading 0.69% higher at $29.31 an ounce.
Silver ETFs are also higher in pre-market trading today. At last check, the iShares Silver Trust (ETF) (NYSE: SLV) was up 0.67% to $28.52, and the ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSE: AGQ) was up 1.43% to $47.59.
The ProShares UltraShort Silver (ETF) (NYSE: ZSL), which takes a short position on silver, is currently down 1.54% to $14.72 in pre-market trading in New York.
