Precious metals bounced higher Thursday as the U.S. dollar retreated, a day after Fed officials signaled December as the likely time for raising interest rates.
Gold for December delivery tacked on $9.20, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,077.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"A weaker dollar means stronger gold," Graham Leighton, a trader at Marex Spectron in New York, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "A lack of follow-through on dollar strength after the Fed minutes has created profit-taking, and that’s what’s creating a little bit of weakness in the dollar."
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,068.30 to a high of $1,086.60. They inched up a dime on Wednesday after closing at a more than 5.7-year low on Tuesday.
Silver for December delivery gained 14 cents, or 1%, to settle at $14.22 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $14.09 to $14.37. They shed 0.6% in the prior session to close at a fresh 12-week low.
In other precious metals futures on Thursday:
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January platinum rose $10.10, or 1.2%, to $858.10 an ounce, trading between $849.30 and $864.90.
- Palladium for December delivery added $8.95, or 1.7%, to $541 an ounce, ranging from $526.60 to $549.85.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices also gained. In comparing their levels from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold advanced $14.85, or 1.4%, to $1,082.60 an ounce.
- Silver added 4 cents, or 0.3%, to $14.21 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales
U.S. Mint sales gold coins jumped 15,000 ounces, lifting their four-day total to 56,500 ounces. That is the most since the week ended Aug. 28 when gold sales surged by 68,500 ounces for the highest weekly total of the year.
The Mint this week restricted sales of American Silver Eagle to 900,000 coins. Of those, 24,000 are left. Sales at 42,905,500 for the year are on a record pace, up 5.4% from the same time in 2014. Last year when Silver Eagle sales ended at an annual record of just over 44 million, the bullion coins by Nov. 19, 2014 had scored sales of 40,691,500.
Below is a listing of U.S. Mint bullion products with the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Oct Sales | Nov Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 13,000 | 21,000 | 39,000 | 26,000 | 64,500 | 610,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 2,000 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 7,000 | 74,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | 10,000 | N/A | 4,000 | 12,000 | 158,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | 15,000 | 55,000 | 50,000 | 100,000 | 980,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins* | 0 | 3,500 | 9,000 | 10,500 | 17,000 | 198,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 25,000 | 1,107,500 | 876,000 | 3,788,000 | 3,063,000 | 42,905,500 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | 35,000 | ||||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 42,000 | |||||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 45,000 | |||||
| 2015 Bombay Hook 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 45,000 | |||||
