Stock Market Watch

Gold and Silver Prices on Jobs Data, Euro Zone Hopes

by ·




Gold and silver prices are gaining in trading today as investors’ sentiment has been lifted by the November jobs report and hopes that the euro zone debt crisis will be contained.

The Labor Department today reported that the unemployment rate in the U.S. fell to a two and a half year low of 8.6% in the month of November from 9% in October. Economists were expecting unemployment rate to remain at 9%. The figures released by the Labor Department showed that the U.S. economy added 120,000 jobs in November. The jobs data for the month of November indicates that the U.S. economy is strengthening.


Investors’ confidence was also boosted by developments in the euro zone. Earlier today, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel said that the euro zone should move into a fiscal union. On Monday, France and Germany are expected to outline joint proposals for a European Union summit on December 9. The two biggest euro zone economies are expected to push for a fiscal union among euro zone countries at the summit. Meanwhile, Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, has said that he is ready to act more aggressively to contain the debt crisis if euro zone members agree on much tighter budget controls next week.

Commerzbank analyst, Eugen Weinberg told CNBC that gold use to be working as a fear indicator but at the moment it is trading more or less like a risk asset. Weinberg said that risk on because of the better employment data and the expectations for the European Union summit are very high.

At last check, spot gold prices were trading 0.4% higher at $1,750.30 an ounce. Gold futures for delivery in December on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange were up 0.7% to $1,751.50 an ounce, at last check.

Spot silver prices were up 1.3% to $33.16 an ounce, at last check. The iShares Silver Trust (ETF) (NYSE: SLV) is currently trading 0.47% lower at $31.71, the ProShares Ultra Silver (ETF) (NYSE: AGQ) is currently trading 1.17% lower at $59.36, and the ProShares UltraShort Silver (ETF) (NYSE: ZSL) is currently trading 0.99% higher at $12.28.

 

More Posts by this author

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.


Tags:

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.

You may also like...