Gold ETFs (IAU) (SGOL) (DGL) (DGP) Trade Up

Shares of gold ETFs iShares COMEX Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU), ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (NYSE:SGOL), PowerShares DB Gold (NYSE:DGL) and DB Gold Double Long ETN (NYSE:DGP) traded higher Wednesday as gold, silver and the majority of other commodity prices were up on the day.

PowerShares DB Gold Double Short ETN (NYSE:DZZ), ProShares UltraShort Gold (NYSE:GLL) and PowerShares DB Gold Short ETN (NYSE:DGZ) all closed down as expected on an up gold day.

June gold climbed $15.80 to $1,495.80 per troy ounce, a 1.1 percent gain on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The less traded May contract was up $15.80, or 1.1 percent, to $1,495.60 a troy ounce.

The silver contract for May delivery gained $1.61, or 4.8 percent, to $35.10 a troy ounce.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the dollar against a basket of six currencies, traded at 75.438, down a little from 75.441 late Tuesday. That was also a factor in gold and silver prices going up.

DB Gold Double Long ETN (DGP) closed Wednesday at $46.20, rising $0.61, or 1.34 percent. PowerShares DB Gold (DGL) ended the trading session at $52.39, gaining $0.28, or 0.54 percent. ETFS Physical Swiss Gold Shares (SGOL) closed at $148.43, up $0.90, or 0.61 percent. iShares COMEX Gold Trust (IAU) closed at $14.59, increasing $0.09, or 0.62 percent.

Gold ETFs (GDX) (IAU) (AGOL) (DGL) After Gold Closes Up

Gold was able to shake itself of silver Friday, as it has been weighed down by the plummeting price of silver in recent trade, which also has been dragging down gold ETFs like Market Vectors Gold Miners ETF (NYSE:GDX), iShares COMEX Gold Trust (NYSE:IAU), ETFS Physical Asian Gold Shares (NYSE:AGOL) and PowerShares DB Gold (NYSE:DGL).

Gold for June delivery climbed $10.20, or 0.7 percent, to $1,491.60 an ounce. Gold lost 4.2 percent last week, as it had settled at a record $1,556.40 an ounce the Friday before. Gold fell 4.2 percent on the week.

Silver for July delivery dropped 95.3 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $35.29 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It had risen as high as $36.43 an ounce in Friday's trading.

The front-month silver contract had its worst week since late March 1980. Silver for May delivery fell 27 percent in the five-day period — its biggest percent drop since that date. The most-active July contract also was down 27 percent on the week.

Silver has lost 14 percent so far in 2011. On April 25, silver had reached as high as $49.845.

PowerShares DB Gold (NYSE:DGL) closed Friday at $52.33, gaining $0.73, or 1.41 percent.

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) Adds Changes to Gold Offerings to Meet Growing Investor Demand

BlackRock (NYSE:BLK) recently announced they're adding a couple of changes to their gold offerings to help meet the increasing demand of investors for gold products.

The first of the two changes was the creation of a new U.S. mutual fund developed to focus on gold-related equities.

This fund, named the BlackRock World Gold Fund, will invest in "equity securities of gold-related companies from around the world," while attempting to maximize overall return.

For the second initiative of the company, this one will involve the existing iShares COMEX Gold Trust (NYSEArca:IAU), which will include a couple of enhancements to help gold investors.

First, they'll be able to have a broader access to the gold market, and second, investors will have increased flexibility in making adjustments to their gold allocation throughout their portfolio.

This should help investors lower overall costs while increasing their liquidity, according to BlackRock.

“Given the increasing interest for gold among all investor types, our strong leadership in the sector, and the significant opportunities for growth we see in the U.S., we are taking steps to continue building out the investment opportunities available to our clients,” said Robert Fairbairn, Vice Chairman of BlackRock and Head of the Global Client Group in a press release. “BlackRock has long been a leader in gold investing — with a wide range of investment solutions around the globe and a leadership position outside the U.S. And, these two product offerings are an ideal example of how we can leverage the breadth and depth of BlackRock around the world to deliver the best possible solutions for our clients.”