Gold, Silver Climb as Euro Zone Finance Ministers Meet

Gold and silver were marching higher Tuesday for a second consecutive morning, though not anywhere near the degree they did Monday morning, as hope remains that euro zone finance ministers meeting today in Brussels can hammer out a substantive plan to resolve the European debt crisis.

Spot gold was slightly up with a bid price of $1,713.80 per ounce and an ask price of $1,714.80 at 10:10 a.m., having traded as high as $1,717.10 and as low as $1,705.30. The London afternoon reference price fixing came in at $1,717, according to Kitco market data.

Spot silver was bid at $32.08 per ounce with an ask price of $32.18. The morning high as of time of writing was $32.24 and the low was $31.59. Monday’s reference price was set at $31.96 in the London a.m.

Italy managed to sell 8 billion euros’ worth of three-year and 10-year government bonds but had to pay well more than the perceived crisis level interest rate of 7% on both issues. In the U.S., property values in 20 cities dropped a greater-than-expected 3.6% year-over-year in September, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller Index.

Gold and silver trusts were generally higher Tuesday morning.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE:GLD) was showing gains of about 0.2%.
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU) was up more than 0.1%.
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE:SLV) was just about flat.

Gold and silver mining ETFs were showing strong gains for a second morning running.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX) was up some 1.4%.
• The Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDXJ) was moving higher, up some 1.75%.
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was more than 2% higher.

Gold mining shares were showing healthy gains as well, with NovaGold Resources (AMEX:NG) shares continuing to surge higher.

• Agnico-Eagle Mines (NYSE:AEM) was showing gains of around 1.1%.
• Barrick Gold Corp. (NYSE:ABX) was nearly 1.4% higher.
• Goldcorp (NYSE:GG) was showing gains of nearly 1.5%.
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE:NEM) was some 1.7% higher.
• NovaGold Resources was up more than 2.7%.

Silver mining shares also were moving higher Tuesday.

• Coeur d’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE:CDE) was some 2.2% higher.
• Hecla Mining (NYSE:HL) was up some 1.8%.
• Pan American Silver Corp. (NASDAQ:PAAS) was around 0.3% higher.
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE:SLW) was up about 0.9%.
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (NASDAQ:SSRI) was up around 0.8%.

As of this writing, Andrew Burger did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.