Gold and Silver Outperform in the Face of Weak Economic Data

On Thursday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for December delivery increased $26.90 to settle at $1,780.50 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) jumped 73 cents to close at $34.67.

Both precious metals outperformed the broad market as weak economic data was released. The U.S. economy expanded at a rate of 1.3 percent from April through June, according to the Commerce Department. It is the slowest pace of growth since the third quarter of 2011 and a decline from last month’s 1.7 percent estimate.

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China, the world’s second largest economy, reported that industrial companies’ profits in the country declined for a fifth consecutive month in August. As a result of the dismal report, Shanghai Securities News announced that the government may launch more stimulus measures to boost the economy.

With the U.S. dollar showing more weakness, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) gained 1.5 percent in afternoon trading. Meanwhile, the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) increased 2 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) both jumped about 2.2 percent. Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) and First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) surged nearly 4 percent each.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS