Gold prices advanced for a second session Thursday with risk aversion triggered and safe-havens gaining on news of the Malaysia airlines crash.
Gold for August delivery settled up $17.10, or 1.3%, to $1,316.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold saw seeing keen safe-haven demand in the immediate aftermath of a Malaysian airliner with 295 people on board that crashed near the border of Ukraine and Russia," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily note. "The uncertainty of the matter — whether it was shot down, terrorism, or mechanical malfunction or pilot error, spooked the market place."
Gold traded from an intraday low of $1,298.10 to a high of $1,325.90. The precious metal edged up 0.2% in the previous session.
Silver snapped a four-session losing streak with futures for September delivery climbing 36 cents, or 1.7%, to $21.13 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $20.76 to $21.30.
PGMs rose as well, and for a second day. In their daily breakdowns:
-
October platinum advanced $18, or 1.2%, to $1,503.70 an ounce, trading between $1,485.40 and $1,509.
- Palladium for September delivery added $8.35, or 1%, to $885.10 an ounce, ranging from $874.70 and $890.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals also turned up. In contrasting the London bullion fix prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold rose $1.50, or 0.1%, to $1,302.50 an ounce,
- Silver added 8 cents, or 0.4%, to $20.78 an ounce,
- Platinum gained $18, or 1.2%, to $1,497 an ounce, and
- Palladium jumped $17, or 2%, to $886 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in July
Sales of United States Mint bullion coins were unchanged as of 3:40 PM ET. Still, compared to last week, orders for this week so far are 80% higher for gold coins and 56% higher for silver coins.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold last week, this week so far, last month, the month to date, and the year to date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Sales Last Week | Current Sales Week | June Sales | July Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 700 | 0 | 12,900 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 5,500 | 9,500 | 43,000 | 20,500 | 219,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 76,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 15,000 | 35,000 | 20,000 | 380,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 1,500 | 16,000 | 4,000 | 115,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 360,000 | 560,000 | 2,692,000 | 995,000 | 25,123,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 29,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 900 | 0 | 20,000 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 1,000 | 18,500 | 1,500 | 20,000 |
