Gold and Silver Hold Steady on U.S. Dollar Strength

On Monday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for February delivery, the most active contract, edged $1.20 higher to settle at $1,698.20 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures for March dipped 2 cents to close at $32.28.

Both precious metals were relatively quiet as the U.S. dollar index, which compares the greenback in a basket against six other fiat currencies, edged slightly higher. The dollar also reached its highest level against the Japanese yen since April 2011.

The yen gapped lower in early Monday trading as Shinzo Abe, the country’s new prime minister from the Liberal Democratic Party, won election in a landslide. He has promised to stimulate the economy with a large spending package and is a strong advocate of more monetary easing by the Bank of Japan.

By the end of the day, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) gained 0.19 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) edged 0.10 percent higher. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) and Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) both jumped nearly 1.0 percent. Meanwhile, Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) dipped 0.49 percent, but Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) increased 1.57 percent.

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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS