Chinese Inflation Sends Gold Closer To Record High

Gold futures were ahead on Tuesday as the equity markets gave back some of Monday's winnings. Bloomberg pins the uptick to an increase in Chinese inflation, which accelerated in April to its highest in 18 months. Meanwhile, MarketWatch notes that real-estate prices in China's 70 largest cities jumped by 12.8% for the month year-over-year, and investors may be seeking a safe-haven amid concerns of a bubble.

As a whole, the Gold and Silver Stocks Index is ahead by 4.2% for the session. It is now outperforming the S&P 500 by 8.5% over the past month.

Large-cap players Barrick Gold (NYSE: ABX - News), Goldcorp (NYSE: GG - News), and Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM - News) have all gained more than 7% over the past five sessions as volatility shakes risk-averse investors to the precious metals segment, a common hedge against risk in the equity and currency markets. Meanwhile, top performers Crystallex International (AMEX: KRY - News), Allied Nevada Gold Corp (AMEX: ANV - News), and Seabridge Gold (AMEX: SA - News) have all spiked by more than 10% for the period.

In the silver segment, Silver Wheaton (NYSE: SLW - News), Silver Standard Resources (NASDAQ: SSRI - News), and Pan American Silver (NASDAQ: PAAS - News) are all adding more than 3% for the session. Meanwhile, the PowerShares DB Silver Fund (NYSE: DBS - News) and Ishares Silver Trust (NYSE: SLV - News) are among top performers in the Commodity ETFs Index.

As for China, nine of tickerspy's ten Chinese sub-sector Indexes are in the red today with travel names China Eastern Airlines (NYSE: CEA - News), China Southern Airlines (NYSE: ZNH - News), and eLong (NASDAQ: LONG - News) among laggards.