Swapping directional movements from the prior session, gold prices gained on Thursday while silver, platinum and palladium declined.
Gold for April delivery tacked on $17.80, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,651.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices are trading solidly up in midday U.S. trading Thursday, on some safe-haven demand and some chart-based buying despite strong gains in the U.S. stock market," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily research note. "Reason: The gold bulls are this week more confident to get out of some cash and do some buying of the safe-haven metal, still reckoning there will be rough seas ahead in the marketplace in the coming weeks, or longer."
Gold futures on the day ranged from a low of $1,611 to a high of $1,672.50. They declined 1.7% on Wednesday, they surged 6% on Tuesday — posting their highest finish since March 6, and they jumped 5.6% on Monday. The yellow for the week so far is ahead 11.2%.
Silver for March delivery declined 19.7 cents, or 1.3%, to close at $14.676 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $14.40 and $14.98. They jumped 4.3% on Wednesday, they rallied 7.5% on Tuesday, and they soared 7.1% on Monday. Silver prices are 18.5% higher on the week.
In other precious metals prices Thursday:
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April platinum fell $8.40, or 1.1%, to $737.10 an ounce, ranging from $704.90 to $747.20. Platinum is up 18.4% for the week to date.
- Palladium for June delivery declined $21.50, or 1%, to $2,226.10 an ounce, trading between $2,108 and $2,300. On the week, the metal is ahead $685.90 or 44.5%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold rose $29.35, or 1.8%, to $1,634.80 an ounce.
- Silver added 45 cents, or 3.2%, to $14.415 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
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.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | January | February | March | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 68,500 | 50,000 | 38,000 | 3,500 | 123,500 | 165,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 23,000 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 33,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 14,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 55,000 | 250,000 | 60,000 | 20,000 | 95,000 | 175,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 40,500 | 2,000 | 21,000 | 1,000 | 47,500 | 69,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 862,500 | 1,650,000 | 3,846,000 | 650,000 | 4,832,500 | 9,328,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14,500 | 9,300 | 6,200 | 30,000 |
