Gold surged back above $1,300 an ounce on Thursday, gaining for a second day after having dropped in the six prior sessions.
Gold for December delivery shot up $24.60, or 1.9%, to finish at $1,309.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices traded from a low of $1,282 to a high of $1,313.80.
Gains came on weakness in the U.S. dollar and from news out of China that its exports were up 5.1% in July compared to a drop of 3.1% in June.
"The continued weakness in dollar is making gold look attractive," Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "Also, there is some buying in anticipation of a rise in retail Chinese demand as the economy improves."
If any momentum is carried forward to Friday, gold is poised for a weekly gain. For the week so far, the yellow metal is off 60 cents.
Breaking away from a three-session losing streak, silver price for September delivery rallied 68.5 cents, or 3.5%, to close at $20.19 an ounce. The precious metal ranged from $19.46 to $20.30. Silver this week is up 28.1 cents, or 1.4%.
In PGM futures on Thursday:
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October platinum soared $53.30, or 3.7%, to $1,491.60 an ounce, trading between $1,435.70 and $1,498.60.
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Palladium for September delivery added $15.40, or 2.1%, to $738.55 an ounce, ranging from $723.10 to $744.90.
London Fix Precious Metals
Rebounding from prior day losses, London precious metals fixings advanced. In contrasting the Wednesday PM to Thursday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold added $15.75, or 1.2%, to $1,298.25 an ounce,
- Silver prices gained 46 cents, or 2.4%, to $19.73 an ounce,
- Platinum rose $40, or 2.8%, to $1,465 an ounce, and
- Palladium added $21, or 2.9%, to $739 an ounce
US Bullion Coin Sales
Sales totals for United States Mint bullion coins were unchanged for a second day Thursday. The following are the available daily, August and year-to-date bullion coin sales totals as published by the United States Mint.
American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | August Sales | YTD Sales | |
$50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 12,500 | 0 | 0 | 587,500 |
$25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 48,000 |
$10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 0 | 94,000 |
$5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 0 | 450,000 |
$50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 182,500 |
White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29,900 |
Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,800 |
Great Basin 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17,400 |
American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 950,000 | 792,000 | 0 | 30,242,000 |
Figures above are in the number of coins sold, not in ounces.