Gold Extends Winning Streak, Barrick Jumps 2%

On Monday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for August delivery increased $1.70 to settle at $1,619.70 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures jumped 54 cents to close at $28.03. It was the fourth consecutive day of gains for gold.

Both precious metals climbed higher as the U.S. dollar index edged lower to 82.71. However, the markets remained relatively quiet ahead of key meetings. Later this week, the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank hold separate meetings which could provide more hints about monetary easing.

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While some are expecting actions to be taken in coming days, actual measures may be weeks away. Reuters reports, “Several other pieces have to fall into place before the ECB will act decisively, insiders say. These include a request for assistance from Spain, which Madrid is still resisting, a decision by euro zone leaders to let their bailout fund buy bonds at auction, and a German court ruling on the legality of the euro zone’s permanent rescue fund, due on September 12.”

In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) traded flat, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) popped 1.58 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) gained 0.77 percent and 1.43 percent, respectively. Silver names such as Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) jumped more than 2 percent.

Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) shares increased more than 2 percent today, despite receiving a corporate credit rating downgrade from Standard and Poor’s. The rating agency downgraded the miner’s rating to BBB+ from A-, with a negative outlook. Reuters reports, “The downgrade follows the company’s announcement of a capital cost increase of close to US$2.5 billion and a one-year delay to production start-up at its multi-billion-dollar Pascua-Lama gold-silver project.”

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS