Gold and Silver Finish Session Mixed

On Wednesday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for August delivery increased $3.50 to settle at $1,578.40 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures edged 10 cents lower to close at $26.94.

Both precious metals were relatively quiet today as orders for durable goods posted their first gain in three months. The Commerce Department announced that manufacturers’ orders for items such as airplanes and televisions increased by 1.1 percent in May to a seasonally adjusted $217.15 billion. Economists were only expecting about a 0.4 percent increase. However, April durable orders were revised down to $214.83 billion, representing a 0.2 percent decline from the prior month.

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“May looked OK, but the trend is still relatively soft,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S> economist at JPMorgan, according to Bloomberg. It’s soft, but it’s not collapsing. Manufacturing is probably going to slow here” in the middle of the year.

In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) gained 0.13 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) fell 0.65 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE:GG) and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) dropped 0.59 percent and 0.43 percent, respectively. However, silver miners (NYSEARCA:SIL) Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE) and First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) both gained more than 1 percent.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS