Prices for gold and platinum increased Tuesday while those for silver and palladium declined. Gold’s gain was its third in a row.
Gold for April delivery rose $3.30, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,837.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The finish was gold’s highest since Feb 1.
"Gold prices are likely to move higher as stimulus talks continue over in Washington, and this is the biggest catalyst which is driving the prices higher," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade, told MarketWatch. "Having said that, we really need to break above the $1,900 mark before we can be confident that bulls are back in town."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,830.30 to a high of $1,849.50. They climbed 1.2% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery shed 17.4 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $27.402 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $27.13 and $27.88. They surged 2.1% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures Tuesday:
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April platinum gained $19.20, or 1.6%, to $1,194.40 an ounce, ranging from $1,170.60 to $1,206.40.
- Palladium for March delivery declined $16.10, or 0.7%, to $2,320.60 an ounce, trading between $2,303.50 and $2,351.50.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold rose $4.35, or 0.2%, to $1,839.60 an ounce.
- Silver gained 45.5 cents, or 1.7%, to $27.635 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
United States Mint bullion sales increased Tuesday by 500,000 ounces in silver coins and a combined 7,500 ounces in gold coins.
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Last Week | December | January Sales | February | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 7,000 | 64,500 | 48,500 | 191,000 | 71,500 | 262,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 22,000 | 0 | 22,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36,000 | 0 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95,000 | 0 | 95,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 9,000 | 10,500 | 61,500 | 9,500 | 71,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 500,000 | 1,621,000 | 751,000 | 4,775,000 | 2,121,000 | 6,896,000 |
| America Samoa 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Weir Farm 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Salt River Bay 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marsh Billings 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tallgrass Prairie 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
