XAU Snaps 3-Day Losing Skid, Precious Metals Rise

Gold and silver shares maintained the majority of their gains Thursday afternoon as the sector ended in positive territory for the first time in four trading sessions.

The Philadelphia Gold & Silver Index (XAU) settled up by 1.2% at 148.02, fueled by a modest rally in precious metals and slight weakness in the U.S. dollar. Notable advancers included XAU components Goldcorp (GG), Kinross Gold (KGC), and Silver Wheaton (SLW).  GG climbed by 2.3% to $33.29, KGC by 1.7% to $8.00, and SLW by 1.3% to $26.30 per share.

As for the metals, COMEX gold futures settled higher by $9.60, or 0.6%, at $1,580.40 per ounce.  In doing so, the yellow metal also snapped a 3-day losing streak.  Silver futures finished up by $0.12, or 0.5%, at $27.22 per ounce on the COMEX.  The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), which this morning reached a two-week low of 82.734, pared its losses this afternoon to trade down by 0.2% at 82.889.

Despite today’s rise in gold, the yellow metal still needs to recapture the $1,600 level in order to generate “a more improved technical picture,” according to George Gero – a vice president at RBC Wealth Management.