Gold, Silver Shares Mixed, Precious Metals Retreat

Gold and silver shares were largely mixed Wednesday afternoon despite a sell-off in precious metals.

The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index (XAU) traded fractionally lower at 199.04, after climbing as much as 1.4% to 202.13 this morning.  Notable advancers included AngloGold Ashanti (AU) and Harmony Gold (HMY), which rose 0.4% and 0.8%, respectively.  On the downside, Pan American Silver (PAAS) slipped 0.6% and Royal Gold (RGLD) dropped 2.5%.

COMEX gold futures held near unchanged this morning, but turned noticeably lower as the day progressed.  The April gold futures contract settled lower by $17.10, or 1.0%, at $1,731.30 per ounce.

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Silver futures followed a similar trajectory, with the COMEX March contract closing down $0.49, or 1.4%, at $33.70 per ounce.

The decline in precious metals coincided with a rebound in the U.S. dollar, which recouped earlier losses against a basket of foreign currencies to trade near the flatline.