-- Posted Tuesday, 19 December 2006 | Digg This Article
| Close | Gain/Loss |
Gold | $621.20 | +$6.30 |
Silver | $12.59 | +$0.19 |
XAU | 144.10 | +2.49% |
HUI | 343.08 | +3.23% |
GDM | 1094.96 | +2.93% |
JSE Gold | 2866.91 | -0.39% |
USD | 83.45 | -0.54 |
Euro | 132.06 | +1.19 |
Yen | 84.77 | +0.10 |
Oil | $63.15 | +$0.94 |
10-Year | 4.599% | +0.012 |
T-Bond | 112.6875 | -0.03125 |
Dow | 12471.32 | +0.24% |
Nasdaq | 2429.55 | -0.25% |
S&P | 1425.55 | +0.22% |
The Metals:
Gold rose about a dollar is Asia and London before it dipped to unchanged in early New York trade, but it soon rebounded, rose for the rest of trade, and ended near its highs with a gain of 1.02%. Silver rose about 20 cents in Asia before it fell back off in London and traded about 10 cents lower near $12.30 in early New York trade, but it also rebounded higher for the rest of trade and ended near its highs with a gain of 1.53%.
Euro gold rose above €470, platinum gained $17 to $1,117, palladium gained $3 to $323, and copper fell a couple cents to about $3.01.
Gold and silver equities steadily rose throughout trade and ended with about 3% gains.
The Economy:
Report | For | Reading | Expected | Previous |
Housing Starts | Nov | 1588K | 1550K | 1488K |
Building Permits | Nov | 1506K | 1535K | 1553K |
PPI | Nov | 2.0% | 0.5% | -1.6% |
Core PPI | Nov | 1.3% | 0.2% | -0.9% |
PPI unexpectedly gained the most in over 30 years, but the report was somewhat ignored as most look towards CPI and Core PCE as better inflation indicators. There are no major economic reports due out tomorrow.
The Markets:
Charts Courtesy of http://finance.yahoo.com/
Oil traded lower in morning trade, but it rose nearly a dollar by the close as traders prepared for tomorrow’s inventory reports which may come in lower than expected due to dense fog that has caused the Houston Ship Channel to remain closed and keep incoming oil tankers from entering the port.
The U.S. dollar index fell markedly despite inflation worries as strong German business sentiment lifted the euro on the assumption that the ECB will continue to raise interest rates while the U.S. fed does not.
Treasuries fell on inflation worries from high PPI and a fresh warning from the fed’s Fisher that lifted interest rates, but moves were not large with last week’s tame CPI report still on trader’s minds.
The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P fell in early trade on inflation fears, but all three indices rose in the last 2 hours of trade and ended mixed and near unchanged as traders dismissed the PPI report and concentrated on earnings and merger and acquisition news.
Among the big names making news in the market today were LSE and Nasdaq, Morgan Stanley and Discover, Circuit City, and Delta and US Airways.
The Commentary:
“February Gold finished up 7.5 at 625.4, 0.3 off the high and 7.1 up from the low.
March Silver closed up 0.185 at 12.71. This was 0.26 up from the low and 0.14 off the high.
The gold market was simply saved by the PPI and to a certain degree by the sharp failure in the Dollar in the wake of the PPI. From some fundamental arguments, the Dollar should have been lifted by the sharp rise in the PPI report and therefore seeing a distinct failure in the Dollar could indicate that something has changed with respect to the recent trend in the Dollar. With oil prices re-gathering themselves in the afternoon action from early weakness, the inflation question somewhat brought back to life and the Dollar forged the largest single day decline since December 1st, the bull camp in gold had to be cheered up significantly. In fact, the gold market even saw a private brokerage firm upgrade, of a gold stock on Tuesday and that probably also added into the short covering attitude that settled into the gold trade on Tuesday. However, given the flow of fundamental news on Tuesday it is possible that that new or fresh speculative buying joined in with the technically orientated short covering that is to be expected after a 12 day $40 an ounce slide in prices.
While the recovery move in silver was somewhat impressive on Tuesday, relative to the massive slide in the two prior sessions, it is possible that a large portion of the bounce was simple short covering. However, seeing distinctly positive leadership from the gold market and seeing a definitive slide in the Dollar probably resulted in some fresh buying in silver. As mentioned in the mid day coverage, the copper market didn't seem to benefit from the new found optimism toward the precious metals and that would suggest that a large portion of the silver price gains Tuesday were the result of financial or currency related developments.” - The Hightower Report, Futures Analysis and Forecasting
The Statistics:
As of close of business: 12/18/2006
Gold Warehouse Stocks: | 7,469,663 | -301 |
Silver Warehouse Stocks: | 111,199,002 | + 1,067,921 |
Global Gold ETF Holdings
[WGC Sponsored ETF’s]
| Product name | Total Tonnes | Total Ounces | Total Value |
New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) AND Singapore Exchange (SGX) | Streettracks Gold Shares | 448.92 | 14,433,279 | US$ 8,860m |
LSE (London Stock Exchange) AND Euronext Paris | Gold Bullion Securities | 90.30 | 2,903,364 | US$ 1,808m |
Australian Stock Exchange (ASX) | Gold Bullion Securities | 10.53 | 338,423 | US$ 211m |
Johannesburg Securities Exchange (JSE) | New Gold Debentures | 9.88 | 317,641 | US$ 195m |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
COMEX Gold Trust (IAU)
Profile as of 12/18/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $853,117,029 | Ounces of Gold
in Trust | 1,389,719.369 |
Shares Outstanding | 14,000,000 | Tonnes of Gold
in Trust | 43.23 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
Silver Trust (SLV)
Profile as of 12/18/2006 | |
Total Net Assets | $1,454,511,369 | Ounces of Silver
in Trust | 112,173,316.800 |
Shares Outstanding | 11,250,000 | Tonnes of Silver
in Trust | 3,488.98 |
Note: No change in Total Tonnes from yesterday’s data.
The Stocks:
Rio Narcea’s (RNO) exercised warrants in Chariot Resources Limited, Fronteer’s (FRG) drill results, Centerra Gold’s (CG.TO) illegal work stoppage at the Kumtor mine, IAMGOLD’s (IAG) sale of its interests in Omai Bauxite Mining Inc. and Omai Services Inc., Wildcat’s (CNQ: WILD) stock options, and Coeur’s (CDE) San Bartolome silver mine update were among the big stories in the gold and silver mining industry making headlines today.
WINNERS
1. Exeter | XRA +19.63% $1.95 |
2. Taseko | TGB+12.35% $2.82 |
3. Northgate | NXG +9.68% $3.40 |
LOSERS
1. Rubicon | RBY -3.85% $1.25 |
2. Northern Dynasty | NAK -3.08% $8.18 |
3. Rio Narcea | RNO -1.92% $2.56 |
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:
Full Metal Transfers 100% Interest in Two Nunavut Properties to Mountain Capital Inc. - More
- December 19, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Drake Gold Signs Joint Venture With North Star Strategic Minerals Inc. - More
- December 19, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Wildcat Silver Press Release - "Wildcat Silver Corporation (CNQ: WILD) ("Wildcat" or the "Company") announces the granting of 1,270,000 stock options to directors, officers, employees and consultants of the Company at an exercise price of $1.58 per share for a period of 5 years expiring on December 18, 2011." More
- December 19, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Uracan announces closing of its previously announced financing of $650,000 - More
- December 19, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Gossan Returns Alto-Gardnar Property - More
- December 19, 2006 | Item | E-mail
New Geological Model of Interest at Gossan's Bird River Property - More
- December 19, 2006 | Item | E-mail
New Guinea Gold Corporation: Exploration Drilling Commences at Sinivit Project - More
- December 19, 2006 | Item | E-mail
South-Malartic's Natora property in Mexico: Piedra Rodante Zone now traceable over 1 km - Grab samples return up to 6.2 g/t Au and 349 g/t Ag - More
- December 19, 2006 | Item | E-mail
Gold Seeker Closing Report – Gold & Silver Gain Over 1%