Precious metals showed split performances on Thursday, with gold and silver rising and platinum and palladium falling.
Gold for February delivery rose by $7.20, or 0.4%, to settle at $2,050 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The metals [gold and silver] are seeing some ‘outside market’ support as this week’s rally in the U.S. dollar index has stalled out. However, gains in the precious metals are being limited by lower crude oil prices and an up-tick in U.S. Treasury yields today," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $2,043.30 and $2,058.10. They fell by 1.5% on Wednesday, and they edged 0.08% higher at the start of the new trading year on Tuesday.
Snapping a four-session losing streak, silver for March delivery climbed by 3 cents, or 0.1%, to close at $23.187 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $22.88 to $23.26. They dropped by 3.3% on Wednesday, and they shed 0.6% on Tuesday.
In other precious metals prices on Thursday:
-
April platinum shed $20.80, or 2.1%, to $966.30 an ounce, trading between $964.20 and $988.20.
- Palladium for March delivery declined by $33.30, or 3.1%, to $1,037.80 an ounce, ranging from $1,035.50 to $1,081.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
On Thursday, the U.S. Mint reported total bullion sales gains of 2,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 1,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week / January | October | November | December | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 2,500 | 39,500 | 97,000 | 40,000 | 15,000 | 924,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 17,000 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 102,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 18,000 | 16,000 | 0 | 198,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 55,000 | 15,000 | 675,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,500 | -7,000 | 23,000 | 36,500 | 14,000 | 5,500 | 387,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 157,000 | 3,179,000 | 3,938,000 | 2,378,000 | 525,000 | 24,750,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
