Gold and silver turned sharply higher Tuesday morning following a much worse than expected report on U.S. consumer confidence.
COMEX gold for December 2011 delivery surged $34.20, or 2.1%, $1,686.50 per ounce after hovering near $1,655.00 earlier this morning. Silver futures climbed $0.58, or 1.8%, to $32.22 per ounce after dipping to $31.40 in overnight trading.
The move higher in precious metals came immediately following the Conference Board’s consumer confidence October reading of 39.8. The figure was far below the 46.0 consensus estimate among economists, and the lowest since March 2009.
The worse than expected data is likely to provide the most dovish Federal Reserve members – particularly Ben Bernanke, William Dudley, and Janet Yellen – with additional ammo to argue for expanding the central bank’s set of accommodative monetary policies.
Aurizon Discovers Two New High Grade Gold Zones at Marban
- The best results from the new High Grade Western Zone include 906.2 grams per tonne (g/t) of gold over 2.9 meters (m) at hole MB-11-198 at a vertical depth of 175m and 5.9 g/t of gold over 15.7m at hole MB-11-195 at a vertical depth of 125m.
- The Eastern Down Dip Zone is located approximately 400m east of the former Marban mine shaft and includes 6.1 g/t of gold over 12.6m at hole MB-11-242 at a vertical depth of 350m.
- A resource estimate will be completed by the end of the year on the Marban property and will be based on new results obtained.
