Gold and Silver Edge Higher on Weaker U.S. Dollar

On Tuesday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for June delivery increased $11.20 to settle at $1,643.80 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures gained 22 cents to close at $30.75.

Both precious metals edged higher as the U.S. dollar declined after the newly released housing data. The Commerce Department announced that new U.S. single-family home sales dropped 7.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted 328,000-unit annual rate. It beat expectations, but it is the slowest level in four months. Furthermore, the Case Shiller Home Price Indices for February 2012 posted annual declines of 3.6 percent and 3.5 percent for the 10 and 20 City Composites.

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A report by Standard & Poor’s explains, “While there might be pieces of good news in this report, such as some improvement in many annual rates of return, February 2012 data confirm that, broadly-speaking, home prices continued to decline in the early months of the year. Atlanta continued its downward spiral, posting its lowest annual rate of decline in the 20-year history of the index at -17.3 percent.”

In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) gained .20 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) edged .32 percent lower. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Goldcorp Inc. (NYSE:GG) and Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) increased .70 percent and .09 percent, respectively. Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE:SLW) gained .21 percent, while Revett Minerals Inc. (RVM) jumped 2.7 percent.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS