Stock Market Watch

Gold Prices Extend Gains, Silver Prices Edge Up As Well

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Gold prices edged higher during Asian trading hours on Wednesday after hitting a 15-week high level in the previous session as simmering concerns over possible U.S. military intervention in Syria, kept investors edgy, boosting demand for safe haven bets such as gold. Short coverings are also driving up the metal’s prices. Silver prices have also edged higher in early trading on Wednesday.

At last check, gold futures for December delivery added 0.21% to $1,423.20 an ounce while spot gold gained 0.52% to $1,423.39 an ounce.

According to Reuters, quoting sources familiar with the matter, western envoys have spoken with opposition parties from Syria and told them that a military strike against President Bashar-al-Assad’s government was imminent. Last week, thousands of people who were opposing Assad’s regime were killed ruthlessly in Damascus. The Obama administration expects it to be a chemical weapon attack.

Earlier today, the metal peaked at $1,433.31 an ounce, a highest level recorded since May 14.

Gold, which is traditionally regarded as safe-haven asset, tends to gain in the times of macroeconomic uncertainty.

Meanwhile, global equities continued to get battered on Wednesday while crude oil futures edged higher.

Commenting over gold’s sharp gains, Tom Kendall an analyst at Credit Suisse said in a note to clients,  “There is a degree of safe-haven demand from in and around the Middle East, and with the move up in price in the last couple of weeks, you’ve had something of the order of 6 million ounces of short-covering going through on the Comex futures and options market,” according to Reuters.

Silver futures edged up 0.34% to $24.78 an ounce.

In pre-market trading, the iShares Silver Trust (ETF) (NYSE: SLV) was up 1.10%, and the ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSE: AGQ) was up 2.93%.

 

 








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edliston
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.

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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.

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