It’s been a rough patch for gold the last six months. Following skyrocketing prices that sent the precious mineral to over $1,900 an ounce, the commodity plunged in 2013, and hit a 34 month low on June 26. But it’s rebounded slightly in July, and is up 5.8 percent since July 12, possibly signaling a rebound for the sagging gold market. Miners, esepcially, might be benefiting from the lowered bullion prices as gold still trades above production costs.
Following this wild ride, gold miner ETFs have been quite volatile. Gold Miners ETF ($GDX) went as high as $55.25 a share in September 2012, and dropped as low $22.12a share on June 24. The ETF is up 2.8 percent today to hit $25.48.
July 19 was a good day for gold miner ETFs across the board. Direxion Daily Gold Miners Bull 3X Shares ($NUGT) was the biggest gainer, rising 7.33 percent to hit $6.30 a share. Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Fund ($GDXJ) was up as well, gaining 2 percent to hit $38.71 share.
While gold recovered, tech got hit hard. The entire sector was pulled down as Microsoft (MSFT) continued its downward spiral following a disappointing earnings report. iShares Dow Jones U.S. Technology ETF ($IYW) which is weighted 10.51 percent towards Microsoft, is down 1.9 percent to hit $76.02 percent. The popular Technology Select Sector SPDR ($XLK), with a 8.pk weighting towards Microsoft, dropped 1.69 percent to hit $31.45 percent.
It should be noted that tech ETFs are generally still having an amazing year compared to gold. IYW is up 7.57 percent on the year, and XLK is up 9.05 percent while GDX is down 47.39 percent year-to-date, GDXJ is down 51.9, and NUGT is down a whopping 89.81 percent in the same time period. But this week finally gave gold miner ETF investors, one of the most battered ETF sectors this year, something to cheer about.
