Gold Reaches New High for 2012

On Monday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for December delivery increased $9.40 to settle at $1,783.30 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) jumped 38 cents to close at $34.95. Gold touched an intra-day high of $1,794.40, its highest level all year.

Both precious metals climbed higher as Chicago Federal Reserve President Charles Evans defended the latest round of quantitative easing. Furthermore, he said the central bank will continue to take action until the unemployment rate falls below 7 percent.

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Evans also favors additional easing with growth remaining sluggish. The recent gross domestic product rate came in at 1.25 percent for the second quarter last week, far below estimates. “That tells me that more accommodation would be appropriate, especially if it’s effective. By all the analyses I’ve seen, it will be effective and the inflation risks are not very large at the moment.” He added, “There’s scope for doing more. I would have been doing more for a longer period of time.”

In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) gained 0.30 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) jumped about 1 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) and Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) increased 0.65 percent and 0.72 percent, respectively. Meanwhile, Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) and Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) both popped more than 1 percent.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS