Bullions Rose, Precious Metals Eagerly Await the Rate Hike
Demand for silver coins peaked
Since the bullion prices have been retreating, the silver coin sales peaked in the US. So far in 2015, the sales touched 44.9 million. The American Silver Eagle coin sales reached a high of ~44 million coins during 2014. With almost a month still left in 2015, the spiking figures are reaching new highs. The routing bullion prices in the current year might push the demand.
Silver fell by 7.9% on a YTD (year-to-date) basis. It has a one-month trailing loss of 3.8%. The fall in the precious metals likely gave impetus to the bullion lovers to buy the physical assets denominated by silver.
Tracking the ETFs and miners
The ETFs that take their prices from silver like the Global X Silver Miners ETF (SIL) and the leveraged Proshares Ultra Silver (AGQ) fell by 26.9% and 20.6%, respectively, on a YTD basis. The mining-based equities like Pan American Silver (PAAS), Silver Wheaton (SLW), and Hecla Mining (HL) also followed the rout in the precious metals. They fell reasonably during 2015. These three companies account for 7.8% of the price fluctuations in the Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (GDX). GDX lost 20.9% on a YTD basis.
Other precious metals like platinum and palladium lost 27.6% and 29.1%, respectively, on a YTD basis. The loss in most of the ETFs and the mining-based stocks were amplified. However, a potential bounce back might be expected in the mining sector. The bullions could revert from their multiyear lows.
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