Upbeat U.S. economic data and a less anxious market are tarnishing the safe-haven gold trade, with precious metals miners and sector-related exchange traded funds among the worst performers Friday.
The SPDR Gold Shares (NYSEArca: GLD) dipped 1.0% Friday while the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDX) fell 3.7% and Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSEArca: GDXJ) declined 4.5%.
On the other hand, inverse or bearish gold-related ETFs were capitalizing off sudden turn. The ProShares UltraShort Gold (NYSEArca: GLL), which provides a two times inverse or -200% daily performance of gold bullion, was up 2.0% Friday. Alternatively, ETN options include the DB Gold Double Short ETN (NYSEArca: DZZ), which tries to generate the twice inverse or -200% return of the daily performance of gold, rose 2.1%; DB Gold Short ETN (NYSEArca: DGZ), which tries to reflect the inverse of gold price movements, added 1.2; and VelocityShares 3x Inverse Gold ETN (NYSEArca: DGLD), which tries to reflect the performance of three times the inverse or -300% daily performance, was 2.1% higher.
Meanwhile, short gold miner ETFs also enjoyed a bounce. On Friday, the Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: DUST) and the Direxion Daily Junior Gold Miners Index Bear 3X Shares (NYSEArca: JDST), which take the -300% performance of gold miners and small-cap miners, are up 11.7% and 13.1%, respectively. The double-leveraged rivals to DUST and JDST, include the ProShares UltraShort Gold Miners (NYSEArca: GDXS) and the ProShares UltraShort Junior Miners (NYSEArca: GDJS).
While gold-related assets are still on pace for their best weekly gain in a year, gold futures and precious metals miners slipped Friday after the better-than-expected U.S. employment report strengthened investor confidence and diminished demand for safe-haven investments.
The Labor Department revealed the U.S. added 292,000 jobs in December, compared to average forecasts for a 210,000 gain, and also added 50,000 to prior estimates for October and November payrolls, the Wall Street Journal reports.