Precious metals take a hit as dollar moves higher

Gold and silver have really taken it on the chin this week, with gold down 5% Friday and silver down a whopping 15% in today's trading (as of 4pm Chicago time). 

For the week, Finviz shows gold and silver down 8.7% and 23.6%, respectively (see performance chart below). 

The sell-offs in the futures markets have, of course, impacted the share prices of metals ETFs, GLD and SLV similarly.

The leading gold and silver mining indices, XAU and HUI, also took a dive over the last few days. 

Meanwhile, the US dollar index continued its climb this week. Having bottomed near 72.70 in early May, and following its consolidation around the 73.50 mark in August, the index (which measures the US dollar against a basket of other paper currencies) is up strongly in September. 

 

So were there any technical price signals or sentiment changes that hinted at these latest shifts in the dollar and in the precious metals market?

Sounding prescient on the gold trade is Phil Pearlman, discussing his decision to sell gold in this August 24th interview on CNBC (looking sharp, buddy). 



We'll continue watching gold, silver, and the dollar in the weeks ahead. Keep up with our real-time updates on Twitter and stay tuned to the blog feed for more. Any source