Precious Metals, Miners Lower with Full Slate of Data Ahead

Gold has been trading between $1,810 and $1,820 per ounce in early trading Monday, having moved down from a peak just shy of $1,840 during electronic and Asia-Pacific hours. Consumer spending rose more than expected in July, increasing 0.8%, according to the Commerce Department. Personal income rose slightly less than expected, increasing 0.3%.

Spot gold was trading at $1,814.30 Bid, $1,815.30 Ask in Monday morning trading, having been fixed at $1,788 an ounce in the London p.m. Spot silver was trading at $41.09 Bid, $41.19 Ask, having hit a high of $41.28 and a low of $40.33. The London a.m. fix came in at $41.06 per ounce, according to Kitco market data.

There’s a full slate of economic data on tap this week, and the country also is gauging the damage from Hurricane Irene. Pending home sales info for June is due out tomorrow morning, with the ADP August employment report, July factory orders, crude oil inventories and Chicago PMI due out Wednesday. Weekly initial and continuing jobless claims, the ISM Index, construction spending, and auto and truck sales will be released Thursday. Friday’s reports on August non-farm payrolls and unemployment will cap the week.

Also likely to have an impact on markets this week is Eurozone Retail PMI, due out Tuesday, and a string of monthly PMI releases on Thursday, kicking off with HSBC’s report on China’s PMI, and followed by EU country PMIs.

Turning to exchange trading, gold and silver trusts were sharply lower.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was down more than 2%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was 2.25% lower.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was some 2% lower.

Gold mining ETFs were down while the Global X Silver Miners ETF was higher.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was around 0.9% lower.
• The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was 0.17% lower.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was about 0.2% higher.

Shares of gold miners were broadly lower.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (USA) (NYSE:AEM) was down 0.65%.
• Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) was about 0.4% lower.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was more than 1.1% lower.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) was down more than 0.5%.
• NovaGold Resources (USA) (AMEX:NG) was flat.

Silver mining shares also were moving lower early Monday.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE) was 1.25% higher.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was 1.3% lower.
• Pan American Silver Corp. (USA) (NASDAQ:PAAS) was down more than 0.2%.
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (USA) (NYSE:SLW) was around 1.5% lower.
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (USA) (NASDAQ:SSRI) was down 0.25%.

The author does not hold positions in any of the above-mentioned investments.