Precious metals futures registered mostly modest gains Tuesday. Still, gold marked an eight-and-a-half-month high and silver scored a six-and-a-half-month high.
Gold for February delivery tacked on $5.80, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,308.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since May 14 when gold ended at $1,318.20 an ounce.
"There’s plenty of reason to still look at gold as a means to have some protection" given expectations that other markets will continue to struggle, especially stocks, Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said, according to Reuters.
"The momentum in gold has been established now. We just need to work out how strongly the momentum has been backed by speculative interest."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,301.70 to a high of $1,310.80. They added 0.4% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery increased 7.4 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $15.839 an ounce. The close was the strongest since July 12 when silver settled at $15.977 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.72 and $15.93. They climbed 0.4% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures prices Tuesday:
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April platinum added $1.30, or 0.2%, to $815.80 an ounce, ranging from $813.20 to $821.60.
- Palladium for March rose $14.30, or 1.1%, to $1,303.60 an ounce, trading between $1,284 and $1,317.10.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM
- Gold added $5.40, or 0.4%, to $1,307.55 an ounce.
- Silver rose 17 cents, or 1.1%, to $15.855 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales climbed by a combined 1,500 ounces in American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins and by 26,500 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Last Week | This Week | December | 2018 Sales | 2019 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 26,600 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 2,500 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 191,000 | 44,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 32,000 | 15,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62,000 | 20,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 230,000 | 80,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 1,500 | 500 | 1,500 | 121,500 | 23,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 26,500 | 375,000 | 86,500 | 490,000 | 15,700,000 | 4,017,500 |
