Exchange traded funds (ETFs) tracking gold and silver were fractionally higher before Wednesday’s opening bell as the dollar continued to weaken against currency rivals.
PowerShares DB US Dollar Bullish Fund (NYSEArca: UUP) was down 0.5% in premarket, close to its 52-week low of $20.86 a share. The ETF is off about 8% this year as fears over the budget deficit and the U.S. credit rating have slapped the dollar.
A weaker greenback and unrest in the Middle East have pushed precious-metals ETF such as iShares Silver Trust (NYSEArca: SLV) and SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) higher, although silver has suffered a nasty correction. Both metals ETFs were poised to open slightly higher Wednesday.
The silver ETF has more than doubled over the past year but has fallen sharply this week, losing more than 5% in Tuesday’s sell-off. A leveraged ETF, ProShares Ultra Silver ETF (NYSEArca: AGQ), is down more than 30% from its recent high. [Silver, Oil ETFs Fall Sharply in Commodities Rout.]
Full disclosure: Tom Lydon’s clients own SLV and GLD.
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