Gold remained very near unchanged in Asia and London before it steadily rose throughout trade in New York and ended near its highs with a gain of 1.49%.Silver traded slightly lower in Asia and London before it also steadily rose in New York and ended with a gain of 1.21%.
Euro gold rose near €490, platinum gained $57 to $1,151, palladium gained $2 to $322, and copper gained about 4 cents and rose back over $3.30.
Gold and silver equities rose about 1% at the open, fell back near unchanged and traded briefly lower about an hour into trading, rose to find about 2% gains by early afternoon, and then sold back off into the close and ended about 1% higher.
The Economy:
Report
For
Reading
Expected
Previous
Initial Claims
10/28
327K
310K
309K
Productivity
Q3
0.0%
1.1%
1.2%
Factory Orders
Sep
2.1%
3.6%
-0.3%
In addition to economically disappointing unchanged Productivity, labor costs rose a more than expected 3.8% and raised inflation concerns.
Tomorrow at 8:30AM EST brings October’s jobs data.Nonfarm Payrolls are expected at 125,000, the Unemployment Rate is expected at 4.6%, Hourly Earnings are expected at 0.3%, and the Average Workweek is expected at 33.8.At 10AM is the ISM Services report expected at 54.5.
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Oil fell on doubts over OPEC cuts and on recent weak economic data which may cut into demand.
The U.S. dollar index fell as the euro found strength on some comments from ECB President Trichet that hinted towards an interest rate increase at their next meeting.
Treasuries fell despite poor economic data as inflation concerns were raised from rising labor costs without any gains in Productivity.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P fell on poor economic news and mixed sales reports from the retailers, but losses were minimal by the close as most looked ahead to tomorrow’s jobs report.
Among the big names making news in the market today were Wal-Mart, CBS, Nomura and Instinet, and Ford.
The Commentary:
“December Gold finished up 8.5 at 627.8, 0.5 off the high and 10.8 up from the low.
December Silver closed up 0.175 at 12.65. This was 0.21 up from the low and 0.02 off the high.
It would seem like the financial market uncertainty increased with the flow of US numbers on Thursday morning. While the pace of the US economy wasn't necessarily the cause of the anxiety Thursday morning, it might be said that the US numbers failed to impress the trade. However, the bigger focus of the session Thursday was on the prospect of escalating labor Costs and in turn the potential for inflation. Even without the sharpest rise in the US Unit Labor costs figure since the 4th quarter of 1982, the inflationary psychology might have been accentuated by the fact that US productivity readings were flat. In fact, seeing US productivity readings flatten out, could mean that labor conditions are set to tighten further and that Unit labor costs are set to rise. While the Gold trade could have fretted over stagflation from the numbers Thursday, the trade was apparently capable of keeping the bullish spin in place. In fact, with sharply rising grain prices joining the sharp rise in the copper and platinum markets, there were plenty of inflationary signals being seen by the gold market. With the US payroll report on Friday morning increasing the ante of uncertainty and that US economy growing more suspect by the day, there does seem to be plenty of flight to quality issues swirling and that favors the bull camp.
With the gold market showing extremely positive leadership, copper and platinum prices rising sharply and the US financial markets unsettled by the Unit Labor Costs the environment for the bulls in silver is certainly getting more interesting. In fact, some traders have suggested that nearby silver prices now have little resistance until the $13.00 level but with the critical US payroll report on Friday increasing the chances for extreme volatility, traders should not be surprised to see prices reeling in both directions. While seeing the threat of labor induced inflation would be much more credible in the face of a stronger US economy, apparently the markets are capable of factoring in some inflation or the need for flight to quality regardless of the perceived weakness in the US economy.” - The Hightower Report,Futures Analysis and Forecasting
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX)
Streettracks Gold Shares
399.83
12,854,973
US$ 7,977m
LSE (London Stock Exchange) AND Euronext Paris
Gold Bullion Securities
83.66
2,689,867
US$ 1,679m
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)
Gold Bullion Securities
10.08
323,843
US$ 202m
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE)
New Gold Debentures
9.88
317,805
US$ 195m
Note: Change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data: The NYSE added 11.11 tonnes.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 11/01/2006
Total Net Assets
$841,860,950
Ounces of Gold in Trust
1,365,789.764
Shares Outstanding
13,750,000
Tonnes of Gold in Trust
42.48
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 11/01/2006
Total Net Assets
$1,294,510,686
Ounces of Silver in Trust
104,776,594
Shares Outstanding
10,500,000
Tonnes of Silver in Trust
3,258.9
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
Quarterly results from DRDGOLD (DROOY), Royal Gold (RGLD), Barrick (ABX), and Randgold (GOLD), IRC’s (ROY) comments on income trusts, U.S. Energy’s (USEG) optioned property, Barrick Gold’s stake in Highland Gold (HGM.L), Tanzanian Royalty’s (TRE) private placement, Taseko Mines (TGB) planned offer for bcMetals (C.V), Barrick’s and NovaGold’s (NG) deferred court hearing, and Apogee’s (APE.V) comments on Bolivia were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1.Fronteer
FRG+12.16% $7.10
2.Yamana
AUY+6.07% $10.84
3.Metallica
MRB +5.41% $3.51
LOSERS
1.DRDGOLD
DROOY-5.22% $1.27
2.Northgate
NXG -4.39% $3.05
3.Aurizon
AZK -3.51% $2.75
Winners & Losers tracks NYSE and AMEX listed gold and silver mining stocks that trade over $1.
All of today's gold and silver stock news:
Olympus-Continues Further Vietnam Exploration Success - More - November 02, 2006 | Item | E-mail
International Royalty Corporation (IRC) is not an income trust - "International Royalty Corporation received a large volume of telephone calls yesterday from its shareholders concerning the announcement by the Canadian government of its intention to tax income trusts and the impact of this decision on IRC. IRC is not and has never been an income trust and, therefore, this proposed legislation has no negative effect on the Company or its shareholders." More - November 02, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Tagish Reports Additional High Grade Gold and Silver Values in Diamond Drilling - More - November 02, 2006 | Item | E-mail
U.S. Energy Corp. Announces That Sutter Gold Acquires Option on Mexican Property - "U.S. Energy Corp. announced that Sutter Gold Mining Inc. today announced that it signed an Exclusive Option Agreement with The Alamo Group, Inc. of Scottsdale, AZ, to acquire a 100% interest (less royalty provisions) in the Santa Teresa mineral concession located in the historic El Alamo gold mining district southeast of Ensenada, Mexico for C$500,000 in payments and work commitments." More - November 02, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Western Warrior assembles Pipestone Project adjacent to RainyRiver Resources - More - November 02, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Klondike Star Geophysical Survey Increases Lone Star Drill Targets - More - November 02, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Gold Seeker Closing Report – Gold & Silver Gain Over 1%
