In futures trading Thursday, gold edged lower while silver, platinum and palladium gained. Silver logged its fourth straight increase. Palladium, meanwhile, registered its seventh consecutive record settlement.
Gold for February delivery declined $2.70, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,472.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold gave back earlier gains following President Trump’s tweet that a trade deal with China was "getting VERY close," opined analysts.
"(Trump’s) tweet saw risk appetite bid, with capital flowing to equities. The problem for gold is that when everything else looks good, there’s less incentive to move into gold, which is what we’ve seen," Reuters quoted Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,468.90 to a high of $1,491.60. They rose 0.5% on Wednesday, they gained 0.2% on Tuesday, and they dipped 0.01% on Monday — marking their lowest settlement since Nov. 27.
Silver for March delivery added a dime, or 0.6%, to end at $16.949 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.82 and $17.19. They gained 0.9% on Wednesday, they moved up 0.4% on Tuesday, and they ticked 0.3% higher on Monday.
In other dealings Thursday:
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January platinum moved up $5.30, or 0.6%, to $944.80 an ounce, ranging from $937.30 to $951.40.
- Palladium for March delivery gained $29.10, or 1.5%, to a record settlement of $1,914.20 an ounce. Palladium traded between $1,883.70 and $1,919.20.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold rose $1, or 0.07%, to $1,467.80 an ounce.
- Silver added 20.5 cents, or 1.2%, to $16.865 an ounce.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday / This Week | Last Week | November | December | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 8,000 | 500 | 106,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin* | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 38,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 60,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 14,863,500 |
| Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 |
| San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,200 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72,500 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | |||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | |||
