Gold Trades Below $1500 as Silver and Mining Stocks Weaken

Spot gold and silver prices were trading down in early trading in the wake of growing belief that the Greek parliament would pass the austerity measures necessary to obtain a final tranche of EU bailout funding, as well as the announcement that May U.S. retail sales were flat.

The spot gold price was set at $1498 at the London p.m. fix, down from the $1501 a.m fix, while spot silver was set at $34.01.� Spot gold was trading below the $1500 mark at $1498.50 Bid, $1499.50 Ask early in NY, down about 1/4%, while spot silver was trading at $33.93 Bid, $34.03 Ask, down around 1.14%.

The major mining stocks and ETFs were trading lower along with gold prices and silver prices, along with the broader commodities complex this morning.

• The SPDR Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD) down around 0.5% in early trading Monday morning,
• The iShares Gold Trust (NYSE: IAU) was down around 0.4%,
• The iShares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV) was down 1.2%,

Gold and silver mining ETFs were heading lower as well.

• The Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDX) was trading down nearly 0.6% in early trading Monday;
• The Market Vector Junior Gold Miners ETF (NYSE: GDXJ) was down more than 1%,
• The Global X Silver Miners ETF (NYSE:SIL) was down about 0.6%.

Individual gold mining shares continued jumpy and heading downward for a third straight session, Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM) being the lone exception.

• Agnico Eagle Mines (NYSE: AEM) was trading higher, up around 0.2% in early trading Monday morning;
• Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX) was trading lower, down around 0.6%,
• Goldcorp (NYSE: GG) was down between 0.5% and 0.6%,
• Newmont Mining Corp. (NYSE: NEM) was trading lower around 0.2%,
• NovaGold Resources (AMEX: NG) was down about 0.7%.

Silver mining stocks were also lower.

• Coeur D’Alene Mines Corp. (NYSE: CDE) was down some 0.7% in early trading Monday morning;
• Hecla Mining (NYSE: HL) was down between 0.8% and 1%;
• Pan American Silver Corp.(NASDAQ: PAAS) was between 1.25% and 1.5%;
• Silver Wheaton Corp. (NYSE: SLW) was down between 1.5% and 1.7%;
• Silver Standard Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: SSRI) was down some 0.4%.