Gold and Silver rise, Oil retreats One of the few benefactors of the S&P outlook downgrade was precious metals. Both gold and silver futures headed higher, with gold coming within a whisker of the key $1500/ounce level, while silver briefly touched $43.50/ounce. Despite the strength in precious metal prices, gold producers continued to underperform relative to the underlying commodity they produce. Kinross Gold (TSX:K, NYSE:KGC ) fell 2.9%, Goldcorp ( NYSE:GG, TSX:G) fell 2% and Yamana Gold (NYSE:AUY, TSX:YRI) slipped 2.1%. Newmont Mining ( NYSE:NEM ) managed to buck the trend and stay in positive territory.