On Thursday, gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) futures for June delivery, the most active contract, jumped $24.40 to close at $1,391.80 per ounce, while silver (NYSEARCA:SLV) futures for July edged 4 cents higher to finish at $22.51.
Both precious metals found a bid as equity markets took a hit. In Japan, the Nikkei plunged 7.3 percent, its worst single-day decline since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster. Stocks in the U.S. opened the day lower as well, but recovered most of the losses to finish the day only slightly in the red.
Wasif Latif, vice president of equity investments at USAA Investments, tells WSJ, “There are a lot folks underweight stocks in this rally and they are using this opportunity to buy instead of running for cover. The market psychology remains a ‘buy-on-the dip’ approach, and there’s a lot of momentum driving this market.”
By the end of the day, the SPDR Gold Trust (NYSEARCA:GLD) gained 2 percent, while the iShares Silver Trust (NYSEARCA:SLV) increased 1.7 percent. Gold miners (NYSEARCA:GDX) such as Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY) and Newmont Mining (NYSE:NEM) both climbed about 1 percent higher. Shares of Endeavour Silver (NYSE:EXK) jumped 2.5 percent.
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Disclosure: Long EXK, AG, HL, PHYS