Gold prices claw higher after nearly 4% thrashing

Silver for July delivery on Thursday SIN3 +0.82%  picked up 20 cents, or 1.1%, to $18.79 an ounce.

Both gold and silver on Wednesday had seen “weak-handed long liquidation and technical short-selling in the futures markets due to several factors,” wrote Kitco Metals global trading director Peter Hug to clients, “including ideas the U.S. economy is getting strong enough that the Federal Reserve will begin to scale back its monetary stimulus program.”

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