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Silver hit a three-month high of $21.55 per ounce this morning, seemingly due to Iraq tension and the release of the Fed’s June meeting minutes.
To the surprise of many, silver has been on the rise for the last few weeks, for the most part keeping its head above $21 per ounce.
This week has been no exception. Though the white metal sank as low as $20.83 early on Monday, since then it has moved steadily higher, reaching a peak of $21.55 this morning.
It’s not entirely clear what spurred that upward movement, but the Financial Times notes that some analysts believe it was a reaction the release of the US Federal Reserve’s June meeting minutes late Wednesday. Nic Brown, an analyst at Natixis, told the news outlet, “[t]he market is taking the view that the Fed is behind the curve and may be allowing inflation pressures to creep into the system. It’s clear that some investor flows are going into gold.”
Increased tension in Iraq may also be causing some investors to turn to precious metals as a safe haven.
The white metal closed today at $21.42.
Company news
With June now over, companies are beginning to release their results for the second quarter of the year. Coeur Mining (NYSE:CDE) did so on Tuesday, reporting that during that period it produced 4.5 million ounces of silver and 61,025 ounces of gold; that equates to 8.1 million silver equivalent ounces, a 7-percent increase from Q1.
Silver Standard Resources (TSX:SSO,NASDAQ:SSRI) had a good second quarter as well, putting out 2 million ounces of silver and 9.3 million pounds of zinc. That puts the company on track to achieve its guidance for this year.
According to John Smith, the company’s president and CEO, Q2 also saw Silver Standard begin “a new era … as a multi-mine producer with the integration of [the] Marigold mine in Nevada complete.”
Finally, earlier today, Fortuna Silver Mines (TSX:FVI,NYSE:FSM) said that in Q2 it produced 1.6 million ounces of silver, 8,519 ounces of gold and “significant base metal by-products.” Like Silver Standard, Fortuna is on track to meet its guidance for 2014.
Investors can look forward to the release of Q2 results from Silver Wheaton (TSX:SLW,NYSE:SLW) and Sierra Metals (TSX:SMT) on August 13.
Securities Disclosure: I, Charlotte McLeod, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
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