Interest Rates Move to 3-Year High

GOLD

With interest rates for the 10-year treasury moving to a 3-year high of over 1.92%, Gold was on the defensive all day. Plus, the release of the U.S. nonfarm employment numbers was released for January today. It showed an increase of 467,000 new jobs, well past the 150,000-job estimate. The sizeable gain in jobs gives the Fed more fuel to increase interest rates. Gold reacted to both issues by selling off, below the key $1,800 level, reaching a low of $1,791 per ounce. At that price strong bargain buying appeared and the Gold price quickly rallied to $15 per ounce. At 11am PT today, Gold is up $3 per ounce, trading at $1,808 on strong volume.

SILVER

Silver tested the $22 support level after the above news was released, but, like Gold, it bounced back to unchanged on bargain buying.
Demand for physical Silver investment coins and bars remains strong, as the U.S. Mint announced it sold five million 1oz Silver eagles in the month of January. At 11am PT today, Silver is trading at $22.50, up $0.10 on good volume.