Crude oil is up 7%, the euro is up 1.5%, and gold is… down. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to predict which outside market will most heavily influence the yellow metal’s trajectory.  But it appears gold’s inverse correlation with equities is reigning supreme today.  The Greek government dropped calls for a write-off of its foreign debt which spurred a 1% rise in European bourses.  Equity strength in Europe carried over to the US with the Dow currently up over 250 points.  Gold found support ahead of its 50 day moving average, a level it held two days ago, and has rebounded $10 from the lows of the trading session today.  Silver has had an unusually less volatile day than gold thus far and is still consolidating above $17.

According to US Mint data, silver eagle sales totaled 5.53 million ounces in January, up 16% from 4.775 million ounces for the same month last year.  Meanwhile, gold coin sales in January totaled 115,500 ounces, down 13% from 133,000 ounces for the same month last year.  This difference can largely be attributed to a steady supply of secondary-market gold eagles still being available in the market.