Precious Metals Extend Gains, GDX Hits 6-Week High

Gold and silver futures extended earlier gains Thursday afternoon amid continued weakness in the U.S. dollar and a broad-based rally on Wall Street.

COMEX gold for December delivery – the most actively-traded contract – settled up by $12.60, or 0.8%, at $1,619.20 per ounce.  Silver futures fared better than the yellow metal, as the September contract jumped $0.40, or 1.4%, to $28.21 per ounce.

Not to be outdone, shares of most gold and silver producers  posted even larger gains.  The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX) – comprised of many of the world’s largest precious metals companies – climbed as much as 3.2% to $45.57 per share.  In doing so, the GDX reached its best level since July 5th – exactly six weeks ago – and extended its advance in August to 6.5%.

Notable GDX components in the black this afternoon included Goldcorp (GG), IAMGOLD (IAG), and Pan American Silver (PAAS).  GG advanced by 4.7% to $38.42, IAG by 4.2% to $11.82, and PAAS by 6.8% to $16.40 per share.

Gold and silver shares also substantially outperformed the broader equity markets, as the S&P 500 Index added a respectable but far less 0.8% to 1,416.04.