On Thursday, precious metals continued their upward momentum with gains ranging from 1.5% for gold to 3.7% for platinum. Gold reached a settlement high not seen in 2.7 years, and silver recorded its highest close in almost a year.
Gold for June delivery rose $30.40 to settle at $2,055.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since Aug. 6, 2020, when gold ended at $2,069.40 an ounce.
"The metals bulls are being fueled by a tame U.S. inflation report, a slumping U.S. dollar index and rising crude oil prices. Gold bulls are now confident they can breach the all-time record high of $2,078.80, basis nearby Comex futures, sooner rather than later," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday that producer prices declined 0.5% in March, with wholesale inflation up 2.7% year-over-year — the smallest 12-month increase since January 2021 and compared to 4.9% previously.
"Gold’s response to the PPI data shows how this current leg higher is being driven by leveraged bets in gold derivatives, fueled in turn by hopes for Fed rate cuts, rather than by demand for actual bullion," MarketWatch quoted Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault. For now, however, "the physical market has clearly swallowed the rise above $2,000."
Gold futures traded between $2,028.30 and $2,063.40 following a 0.3% increase on Wednesday, a 0.8% rise on Tuesday, and a 1.1% decline on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for May delivery advanced 46.7 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $25.925 an ounce, which is the highest since April 18, 2022. Silver futures traded between $25.51 and $26.12, following a 1.1% increase on Wednesday and Tuesday, and a 0.7% slip on Monday.
In other precious metals futures on Thursday:
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July platinum jumped $38 to $1,065.50 an ounce, trading within a range of $1,023.40 to $1,070.
- Palladium for June delivery tacked on $39.70, or 2.7%, to $1,495.60 an ounce, with a trading range of $1,445 to $1,524.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
There were no changes in the published U.S. Mint bullion sales on Thursday. The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | January Sales | February | March | April | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 53,500 | 56,500 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 211,000 | 74,500 | 445,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 54,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 94,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 | 240,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,500 | 25,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 73,000 | 35,000 | 186,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 450,000 | 6,199,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 7,500 | 500 | 8,000 |
