Slight price gains for gold, silver in summertime trading

(Kitco News) - Gold and silver prices are holding mild gains in early morning U.S. trading Wednesday. A weaker U.S. dollar index and higher crude oil prices at mid-week are working in favor of the precious metals bulls. Bullish technical chart postures remain in place for both metals. Still, the buyers of the safe-haven metals are a bit tentative amid little risk aversion in a quieter global marketplace. August gold futures were last up $1.80 at $1,894.90 and July Comex silver was last up $0.099 at $27.83 an ounce.

Global stock markets were mixed and mostly flat in overnight trading. U.S. stock indexes are pointed toward narrowly mixed openings when the New York day session begins. The global marketplace is calm at present, amid no major geopolitical flareups in play.

In overnight news, China reported a big jump in price inflation Wednesday, with its producer price index rising 9% in May, year-on-year, after a surge of 6.8% in April. China’s consumer price index was tamer, with a May reading of up 1.3%, year-on-year. Rising inflationary pressures are a bullish element for the metals markets.