Gold prices closed at a three-week low Thursday, extending a losing streak to four sessions after having notched five-straight gains to end last week at a six-month high.
Gold for April delivery shed $10.80, or 0.8%, to finish at $1,330.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement price was the lowest since gold closed at $1,321.60 an ounce on Feb. 28.
"With the geopolitical crisis easing [in Ukraine] and Yellen delivering an unintended shock to the markets yesterday, the speculators are running away from gold right now," MarketWatch quoted Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter.
Gold traded from a low of $1,320.80 to a high of $1,335.30. Prices so far this week have declined $48.50, or 3.5%.
Also lower for a fourth consecutive day, silver for May delivery lost 40 cents, or 1.9%, to end at $20.43 an ounce. It ranged from $20.14 to $20.73. Silver prices are off nearly $1 from last Friday.
PGM futures split. In the daily closings:
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April platinum turned down $16.90, or 1.2%, to $1,434.80 an ounce, trading between $1,424.20 and $1,454.
- Palladium for June delivery gained $3.45, or 0.5%, to $771.65 an ounce, ranging from $746.30 to $772.70. Palladium’s pick-up was a first since Monday.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals declined. In contrasting the London fix prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold fell $11, or 0.8%, to $1,327 an ounce,
- Silver dropped 58 cents, or 2.8%, to $20.17 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $18, or 1.2%, to $1,436 an ounce, and
- Palladium lost $14, or 1.8%, to $754 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in March
Sales totals for United States Mint bullion coins were unchanged Thursday. Below is a sales breakdown across U.S. Mint bullion products with columns offering the number of bullion coins sold last week, the week-to-date, last month, the month-to-date, and the year-to-date.
American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thursday Sales | Sales Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | February Sales | March Sales | YTD Sales | |
$100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 8,700 | 100 | N/A | 8,800 | 8,800 |
$50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 3,500 | 22,000 | 8,500 | 93,000 |
$25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 17,000 |
$10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 4,000 | 42,000 |
$5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 15,000 | 0 | 50,000 | 25,000 | 235,000 |
$50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,500 | 3,500 | 12,000 | 9,000 | 62,500 |
$1 American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,200,000 | 843,000 | 3,750,000 | 3,143,000 | 11,668,000 |
Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Bullion Coins | 0 | N/A | 10,500 | N/A | 10,500 | 10,500 |