Why Are Gold and Silver SPARKLING?

On Friday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for August delivery jumped $53.80 to settle at $1,604.20 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures surged $1.32 to close at $27.61.

Both precious metals outperformed on Friday as European leaders at a summit in Brussels agreed on plans to create a single supervisor to oversee the financial industry. They also decided on a deal to stabilize the region’s debt markets by recapitalizing its banks.

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“Definitely some good news for risk markets here, though it is not the ‘big bazooka’,” said Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac in Sydney, referring to a lack of a reference to the issuance of common euro bonds, according to Reuters. The euro jumped to as high as $1.2692, while the U.S. dollar index fell to 81.60.

In afternoon trading Friday, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) gained 2.78 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) popped more than 4 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) increased 3.64 percent and 2.67 percent, respectively. Silver names such as Silver Wheaton (NYSE:SLW) and Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) jumped 4.9 percent and 3.97 percent, respectively.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS