Gold and silver futures advanced for a second straight session Thursday, with gold scoring a fresh three-week high and silver closing at a one-month high.
Gold for August delivery tacked on $10.40, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,272.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was the highest since Wednesday, May 18.
"While there is likely further room to the upside for gold, there may be some road blocks to the rally near term," Reuters quoted HSBC analyst James Steel. "We expect that as the FOMC approaches trading volume may quieten down and some near term traders will book square and take profits."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,259.40 to a high of $1,274.40. In the prior session, they advanced 1.2%.
Silver for July delivery gained 28.3 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $17.268 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since May 11. Silver prices ranged from $16.95 to $17.34. They jumped 3.6% in the prior session.
In other metals trading Thursday:
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July platinum declined $8.20, or 0.8%, to $1,003.80 an ounce, trading between $995.50 and $1,017.80.
- Palladium for September delivery edged down 60 cents, or 0.1%, to $560.60 an ounce, ranging from $552.70 to $567.25.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold rose 90 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,263.90 an ounce.
- Silver added 30 cents, or 1.8%, to $17.05 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged for a second straight day.
The U.S. Mint is limiting this week’s sales of American Silver Eagle to 1,415,500 coins. The Mint’s network of bullion distributors ordered 53.9% of them through Thursday. 2016 American Silver Eagles are running at a record pace with sales of 24,133,000 coins, representing a 30.6% increase over those sold through same time in record-breaking year 2015.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods of time.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Tuesday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Apr Sales | May Sale | June Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 500 | 17,000 | 7,500 | 93,500 | 64,500 | 17,000 | 360,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 7,000 | 0 | 43,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 14,000 | 10,000 | 2,000 | 78,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 | 15,000 | 450,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 5,500 | 500 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 3,500 | 101,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 113,000 | 650,500 | 762,500 | 4,072,000 | 4,498,500 | 833,500 | 24,246,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64,000 | 11,000 | 0 | 75,000 |
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33,000 | 64,000 | 11,000 | 33,000 | 33,000 |
“Gold Posts 3-Week High”
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Today must be a slow news day, that’s why they are re-using yesterday’s news…