Mining Stocks Keep an Eye on Precious Metals

Cassie Bastien

3/22/2017 10:06:00 AM

When it comes to price movements, Precious Metal mining companies, who Market Realist Reporter Meera Shawn says belong to the equity category of assets, tend to follow the Precious Metals market for movements within their prices. Furthermore, mining shares are also affected by global implications such as political and market uncertainty, along with the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. Shawn says, “The rises and falls of Precious Metals often result in amplified reactions in mining stocks. Often, a rise in Gold leads to a rise in Gold-mining stocks, and vice versa.” Similar to the rise and falls within Precious Metals thus far in 2017, Shawn says mining shares have also experienced volatility. Analysts say significant discounts to short-and long-term averages could indicate upward price corrections, while considerable premiums could indicate downward price corrections.

Silver Could Be In Your Phone: Rise for Demand Could Increase

Who would have thought Precious Metals will now be a part of one of the, if not the most used electronics to date? Researchers from the University of Michigan have created a new touchscreen for phones and tablets that is made with a thin layer of Silver. Charlie Osborne with Between the Lines and ZDNet.com said, “The UM team also included an anti-reflective coating, which increased the transparency of the Silver to up to 92.4 percent. The team says the Silver coating was able to guide light roughly 10 times as quickly as other metal waveguides, which could make the Silver film useful for boosting computer power and reducing energy usage, as well as serve as a base for reflective displays, flexible screens and touch screen panels.” Currently, mobile device screens are made with indium tin oxide, which used to be rather cheap. “However, as the mobile device market expanded, so has the demand for this material, leading to sharp Silver price increases,” Osborne explains. The UM team has already applied for a patent and is looking for commercial partners to bring the invention to market. Osborne says that not if, but when this takes off, “the possibility could be endless.”  

Gold Prices Hit 3-Week Peak

Doubts regarding President Donald Trump’s economic agenda, or lack thereof, have caused investors to turn to safe-haven assets amid a weaker U.S. dollar. INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir said, “It seems that equity investors decided to take some money off the table, perhaps getting slightly wary about the progress in President Trump’s legislative agenda.” Analysts and traders believe the lack of policy from the Trump team is causing worry among investors, causing them to “opt for Gold as safe-haven investments” rather than stocks, said Reuters Commodities Reporter Nallur Sethuraman.

• Gold has rallied nearly $50 from last Wednesday's low following a less hawkish policy statement from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

At 11:05 a.m. (ET), the APMEX Precious Metals spot prices were:

• Gold, $1,252.10 Up $2.70
• Silver, $17.64 Down $0.03
• Platinum, $968.10 Down $5.30
• Palladium, $794.90 Up $5.80

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