Gold and Silver Post Gains as U.S. Dollar Declines

On Wednesday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for December delivery increased $6.70 to settle at $1,753 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) gained 27 cents to close at $33.23.

Both precious metals climbed higher as the euro hit a one-month high against the U.S. dollar. Positive eurozone news sent the region’s currency up above $1.31, while the greenback index struggled to hold 79. Despite Standard & Poor’s downgrading Spain’s credit rating to just one level above junk last week, Moody’s left Spain’s credit rating unchanged in investment-grade territory.

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The agency kept the country’s rating at Baa3, but assigned a negative outlook. “Moody’s believes that the combination of euro area and ECB support and the Spanish government’s own efforts should allow the government to maintain capital market access at reasonable rates, providing it with the time it needs to stabilize public debt over the next few years,” Moody’s explained in a statement. The cost of insuring Spanish government debt against default also fell to its lowest level in over a year on the news.

By the end of the day, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) closed slightly higher, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) gained 0.60 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) increased 0.77 percent and 2.12 percent, respectively. Silver names such as First Majestic Silver (NYSE:AG) and Coeur d’Alene Mines (NYSE:CDE) both jumped more than 1 percent.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS