Gold etched out a gain of 0.1% Thursday but was limited by a firming U.S. dollar. Silver proved to be the modest leader of precious metals on the day, advancing 0.9%.
Gold prices for June delivery climbed $1.80 to $1,641.40 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Prices ranged from an intraday low of $1,631.20 to a high of $1,654.90.
"Another downbeat U.S. jobless claims report issued Thursday morning failed to move the gold market much. Also, the much-anticipated Spanish bond auction that occurred overnight was deemed by the market place as decent but not great. Gold also saw little reaction to that news," Jim Wyckoff reports in the P.M. Kitco Metals Roundup.
"The gold and silver markets remain range-bound on a near-term basis, which is working to frustrate both the bulls and the bears. The precious metals markets need a fundamental spark to ignite significant price action, and it’s just not happening at present," added Wyckoff.
Silver prices for May delivery gained 29.2 cents, or 0.9%, to $31.779 an ounce. Silver bracketed low and high prices of $31.290 and $32.015.
Platinum prices for July delivery shed $1.20, or 0.1%, to $1,578.00 an ounce, trading between $1,574.00 and $1,597.90.
Palladium prices for June delivery advanced $6.05, or 0.9%, to $663.30 an ounce, ranging from $652.30 to $668.80.
London Precious Metal
London precious metals were mixed. In comparing the most recent London PM fixings:
- Gold added $6.00, or 0.4%, to $1,650.00 an ounce,
- Silver was off 14.0 cents, or 0.4%, to $31.47 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $4.00, or 0.3%, to $1,574.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium remained unchanged at $657.00 an ounce
U.S. Mint Bullion Coins
Sales of U.S. Mint bullion coins were unchanged Thursday as of 3:32 PM ET. Sales were also reported flat around the same time Wednesday but the one-ounce American Gold Eagle later gained 3,000 to reach 15,000 for the month. (2012 Proof Gold Eagles were released by the United States Mint on Thursday at 12:00 noon ET.)
The following are the available daily, April and year-to-date bullion coin sales totals as provided by the U.S. Mint.
Sales of U.S. Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coins | |||
---|---|---|---|
Daily Gains | April Gains | YTD 2012 | |
American Gold Eagle (1 oz.) | 0 | 15,000 | 177,000 |
American Gold Eagle (1/2 oz.) | 0 | 0 | 51,000 |
American Gold Eagle (1/4 oz.) | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
American Gold Eagle (1/10 oz.) | 0 | 5,000 | 135,000 |
American Gold Buffalo Coin (1 oz.) | 0 | 7,000 | 53,500 |
American Silver Eagle | 0 | 880,000 | 11,019,000 |
Sales of America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coins | |||
---|---|---|---|
Prior Weekly | Weekly Gains | All-Time Total | |
Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 85,100 |
Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 38,300 |
Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 200 | 0 | 28,900 |
TOTAL | 200 | 0 | 152,300 |
All bullion coin sales in the above tables are in number of coins, not in the amount of ounces sold. The U.S. Mint last updated five ounce bullion silver coins sold on Monday, April 9.