SMM Morning Review - 2011/8/17 Gold & Silver

SHANGHAI, Aug. 17 (SMM) -- COMEX December gold futures prices opened at USD 1,768.3/oz and closed at USD 1,785/oz on August 16th, up USD 16.5/oz or 0.93% from previous trading day, and up USD 2.5/oz compared with London’s USD 1,782.5/oz. Highest and lowest COMEX prices during the day were USD 1,789.6/oz and USD 1,764.2/oz.

COMEX September silver futures prices opened at USD 39.9/oz and closed at USD 39.8/oz on August 16th, up USD 0.5/oz or 1.27% from previous trading day, and up USD 0.44/oz compared with London’s USD 39.36/oz. Highest and lowest COMEX prices during the day were USD 40.1/oz and USD 39.3/oz.

The France-Germany talk failed to produce a practical solution for the European debt crisis overnight. The EU GDP only grew by 0.2% in the second quarter, which was a new low since 2Q 2009, indicating the European economy is slowing down. As a result, gold price closed slightly higher due to increasing market worries. However, SMM still expects gold and silver prices to keep fluctuating at high levels in the short term.