Gold and Silver Climb Higher on Merkel Comments

On Thursday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for December delivery increased $12.60 to settle at $1,619.20 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures gained 40 cents to close at $28.21.

Both precious logged an impressive day as German Chancellor Angela Merkel showed support for European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. The central bank leader recently said that the ECB is ready to do whatever it takes to preserve the euro.

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During a trip to Canada, Merkel held talks with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on the euro crisis. “I made clear once again that we need a long-term, sustainable solution,” Merkel said at a joint news conference with Harper in the Canadian parliament building, according to Reuters “It is a question of taking the steps that weren’t taken when the currency union was created, namely a political union,” she said. “Germany knows that in a common currency area political responsibilities need to be shared. We are on a good path on many of these issues, but time is of the essence. We are fully aware of this.” The euro climbed to as high as $1.2372, while the U.S. dollar declined.

In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) increased 0.68 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) jumped 1.37 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as AngloGold (NYSE:AU) and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) both gained more than 2 percent. Silver names such as Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) and Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) surged 4.3 percent and 5.6 percent, respectively.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS