On Thursday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for December — the most active contract — jumped $24.60 to close at $1,309.90 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures for September surged 69 cents to finish at $20.19.
Both precious metals posted impressive gains as China experienced better-than-expected demand for its goods, providing hope that the world’s second-largest economy is finally stabilizing.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs in Beijing, Chinese exports increased 5.1 percent in July from a year earlier. Analysts only expected a gain of about 3 percent. The recent rebound comes after June’s 3.1 percent drop.
“Many people were worried that China’s economy would drop very fast in a short period of time,” said Zhang Zhiwei, chief China economist at Nomura Holdings, according to Bloomberg. “But now it seems that the real economy hasn’t been seriously impacted. The risk that the real economy will decline rapidly is lower.”
The U.S. Dollar Index, which compares the greenback in a basket against six other flat currencies, declined to as low as 80.87.
In afternoon trading, shares of the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) jumped 2.2 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) surged about 4 percent. Barrick Gold (NYSE:ABX) and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) increased 9.5 percent and 8.8 percent, respectively. Shares of Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) gained more than 10 percent.
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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS
Read the original article from Wall St. Cheat Sheet