Gold and Silver Edge Lower as Stocks Rally

On Wednesday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for August delivery fell $18.70 to settle at $1,570.80 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures declined 22 cents to close at $27.10.

Both precious metals declined for a third consecutive day as Ben Bernanke continues to keep more quantitative easing on the table, but fails to offer any specific plans. On Tuesday, the Fed Chairman repeated his pledge that the central bank “is prepared to take further action as appropriate” before the Senate Banking Committee.

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Today, Bernanke offered his testimony again to the House Financial Services Committee. He does not see another recession taking place soon, but the Fed is ready to act. “At this point we don’t see a double dip recession. We see continued moderate growth. But we are very committed to ensuring, or at least doing all we can to ensure, that we continue to make progress on the employment side. And we have stated that we are prepared to take action as needed to try to make sure that we see continued progress on employment,” explained Bernanke.

In afternoon trading, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD), declined 0.40 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) fell 0.45 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) and Yamana Gold (AY) dropped 3.12 percent and 2.77 percent, respectively. Silver names such as Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) and First Majestic (NYSE:AG) were able to squeeze out small gains, while Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) and Silvercorp Metals (NYSE:SVM) edged slightly lower.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS