Ahead of the Federal Reserve announcement at its annual Jackson Hole meeting, gold prices dipped to a four-week low, with gold miners and sector-related exchange traded funds breaking below a key level.
The VanEck Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDX) dropped 4.5% Wednesday, plummeting below its support at the short-term, 50-day simple moving average.
On the other hand, nvestors who hedged bets on miners with bearish options struck gold. On Wednesday, the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: DUST) surged 14.2%, Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: JDST) jumped 15.9%, ProShares UltraShort Gold Miners (NYSEArca: GDXS) gained 8.0% and ProShares UltraShort Junior Miners (NYSEArca: GDJS) increased 10.9%.
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Meanwhile, the SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) dipped 0.9% and also fell below its support at the 50-day level as Comex gold futures decreased 1.2% to $1,329.6 per ounce.
“The decline in gold today in my mind was mostly technical,” Kitco Senior Analyst Jim Wyckoff told CNBC. “Also, the outside markets are in a bearish posture.”
[related_stories]Technical traders may keep tabs on the simple moving average to gauge short-term price trend of a security. Wyckoff warned that a close below the 50-day Wednesday for GLD and GDX would be more significant, reports Aparna Narayanan for Investor’s Business Daily.