Gold, Silver Prices Mixed On Hopeful Economic Data

Gold and silver prices were mixed higher Friday as new economic data on
personal income, personal spending, durable goods orders and sales of new
single-family homes provided impetus for a move higher across most asset
classes. Spot gold was off just 0.1% to $1,608.50 an ounce, while silver was up
0.9% to $29.25 an ounce. November disposable personal income increased by a
less-than-expected $8.5 billion, or 0.1% in November, as small gains were
registered in wages and salaries, and real personal consumption expenditures
also rose a less-than-expected 0.1% ($13.1 billion), the Commerce Departments
Bureau of Economic Analysis reported. New orders for durable goods increased
3.8%, the fourth increase in the last five months. New orders, excluding
transportation, rose 0.3%, while new orders, excluding defense, rose 3.7%.
Transportation orders had the largest increase 14.7% following decreases in
September and October. Sales of new single-family homes rose 315,000 in
November, a 1.6% month-over-month and 9.8% year-over-year gain,. The median
sales price was $214,900 and the average sales price was $242,000. The price of
gold bullion was little changed in London morning trading, ending a shortened
holiday trading session up 0.6% on the week, according to BullionVaults London
Gold Market Report. Our Hong Kong office observes that the Gold Price has gone
up during the period between Christmas and New Year in eight of the last nine
years (2004 being the exception), the Mitsui London wrote in a market note,
[rising] by just over 2% on average. Goldman Sachs forecast an average gold
price of $1,810 an ounce, Barclays forecast $2,000 and UBS forecast $2,050 for
gold for 2012 , according to Dublin-based GoldCore. Turning to the exchanges,
gold and silver trusts were trading higher. The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD ) was
up 0.2%. The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU ) was up around 0.3%. The iShares
Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV ) was around 0.5% higher. Gold majors and the iShares
Silver Miners ETF were higher, but the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF was
down sharply. The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX ) was 0.7% higher.
The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ ) was down 4.2%. The
Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE: SIL ) was 0.7% higher. Gold mining shares were
broadly higher. Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM ) had lost 0.2%. Barrick Gold
(NYSE: ABX ) was up 0.8%. Goldcorp (NYSE: GG ) was 0.7% higher. Newmont Mining
(NYSE: NEM ) was up 0.8%. NovaGold Resources (AMEX: NG ) was down 0.7%. Silver
mining shares were mostly higher. Coeur dAlene Mines (NYSE: CDE ) was moving
higher, up around 0.5%. Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL ) was down more than 0.3%. Pan
American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS ) was up more than 0.1%. Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW
) was showing gains of nearly 1.1%. Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ: SSRI )
was up 0.2%. As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of
the aforementioned securities. Adrian Ash of BullionVault contributed to this
report.