Gold and Silver Climb Higher, S&P Upgrades America’s Outlook
On Monday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for August delivery, the most active contract, edged $3.00 higher to close at $1,386 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures for July gained 18 cents to finish at $21.93.
Both precious metals posted modest gains, despite Standard & Poor’s raising its outlook on the U.S. credit rating from “negative” to “stable.”
The credit rating agency says the chances of another U.S. downgrade is less than one in three. In a press release, S&P explains, “We believe that our current ‘AA+’ rating already factors in a lesser ability of U.S. elected officials to react swiftly and effectively to public finance pressures over the longer term in comparison with officials of some more highly rated sovereigns and we expect repeated divisive debates over raising the debt ceiling.”
By the end of the trading day, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) increased 0.50 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) jumped 1.44 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) and Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) gained 0.41 percent and 0.32 percent, respectively. Shares of silver miners (NYSEARCA:SIL) across the sector edged slightly higher.
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