WPM - Gold shines through the chaos as investors seek safe haven

2023-03-17 17:25:25 ET

Gold futures surged more than 2% Friday to cap the yellow metal's biggest weekly gain in three years, as the wave of banking crises shook markets and raised fears that more bad banking news could come over the weekend.

Traders also are betting that the Federal Reserve will opt for a less aggressive interest rate increase of a quarter-percentage point when they it meets next week, rather than the half-point rate hike that was expected before the sudden collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

Front-month Comex gold ( XAUUSD:CUR ) for March delivery closed +2.6% to $1,969.80/oz, its highest since April 2022 and jumping 5.8% for the week in its largest one week percentage gain since the week ending April 9, 2020, while March silver ( XAGUSD:CUR ) ended +3.5% to $22.351/oz, surging 9.7% this week in its best week since August 2020.

ETFs: ( NYSEARCA: GLD ), ( GDX ), ( GDXJ ), ( IAU ), ( NUGT ), ( PHYS ), ( SLV ), ( PSLV ), ( SIVR ), ( SIL ), ( SILJ ), ( SLVP )

Among Friday's biggest gainers: Newmont ( NEM ) +5.2% , Barrick Gold ( GOLD ) +4.1% , Kinross Gold ( KGC ) +7.8% , Agnico Eagle Mines ( AEM ) +5.5% , Franco Nevada ( FNV ) +4.9% , Royal Gold ( RGLD ) +4.5% , Iamgold ( IAG ) +5.5% , Eldorado Gold ( EGO ) +4.7% , Yamana Gold ( AUY ) +5.8% , Endeavour Silver ( EXK ) +6.5% , First Majestic Silver ( AG ) +5.8% , Fortuna Silver Mines ( FSM ) +7.1% , Silvercorp Metals ( SVM ) +7.2% , Coeur Mining ( CDE ) +5.5% , Pan American Silver ( PAAS ) +6.8% .

"There is growing speculation that the Fed will repeat next week what the ECB has done this week: Raise as expected, then pause," XM analyst Raffi Boyadjian said, according to MarketWatch.

The European Central Bank on Thursday raised its policy rate by 50 basis points but dropped forward guidance, saying future rate hikes would depend on economic data .

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