Gold and Silver Prices Rise on IMF Talk

Gold and silver prices are gaining in trading today after the euro rose sharply against the dollar on reports that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is planning to expand its lending resources. However, the gains have been limited as investors watch developments in Greece, where officials are meeting with private investors to decide on the haircut they need to take on their Greek debt holdings.

At last check, spot gold was trading 0.30% higher at $1,655.84 an ounce. Gold futures for delivery in February are up $1.10 to $1,656.70 an ounce.

Gold prices rose as the euro pared its early losses and climbed 0.7% against the U.S. dollar. The euro rose after Bloomberg reported that IMF is looking to boost its lending resources by $1 trillion.

However, traders are watching developments in Greece and this has kept the gains limited. Anne-Laure Tremblay, analyst at BNP Paribas, told Reuters that while in the short term, gold may have further upside, failure of Greece and its private creditors to reach an agreement in the coming days could derail the upward trend.

Gold has already risen nearly 6% this year, breaking ranks with the euro.

In a research note, HSBC today said that corrective EUR-USD could continue as there are large short positions in the euro and further gains may result in a sharp short covering euro rally. HSBC noted that this would likely support gold, however, beyond a near-term rally, slow progress on the euro zone debt crisis may keep the market negative on the euro and limit euro gains.

Silver prices are also higher in trading today. At last check, spot silver was trading 0.8% higher at $30.30 an ounce.

The iShares Silver Trust (ETF) (NYSE: SLV) is currently trading 0.34% higher at $29.30, the ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSE: AGQ) is currently trading 0.70% higher at $49, and the ProShares UltraShort Silver (ETF) (NYSE: ZSL) is currently trading 0.60% lower at $13.19.

More Posts by this author

• 
  Gold and Silver Prices in Green in Mid-Day Trading
• 
  Comerica Incorporated – Record deposit levels of $47.8 billion at year-end
• 
  TreeHouse Foods – Surprised by the sudden decrease in December volumes
• 
  First Horizon National – 2011 was another year of significant progress
• 
  Sonoco – Implementing further cost reduction actions in response to changing business conditions
• 
  Fifth Third Bancorp – 2011 results clearly demonstrated continued improvement
• 
  Bank of Marin Bancorp – Record earnings and strong loan growth this year

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.