Gold prices edged higher Tuesday after falling to a five-week low in the prior session.
Gold for April delivery inched up 50.0 cents to settle at $1,649.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Trading occurred between intraday levels of $1,639.50 and $1,653.80. The yellow metal gained appeal on weakness in the U.S. dollar.
"Gold had seen some intensified technical selling pressure early this week, but on Tuesday the key outside markets turned bullish for gold and silver (lower U.S. dollar index, firmer crude oil prices), which brought at least a temporary halt to the downside price pressure on the precious metals," noted Jim Wyckoff in the PM Kitco Metals Roundup.
Technical selling on Monday pushed gold down 1.1% as it closed to its lowest price since January 7, 2013.
In other New York bullion futures on Tuesday:
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Silver for March delivery added 10.9 cents, or 0.4%, to $31.019 an ounce. Silver traded between $30.580 and $31.095.
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April Platinum jumped $21.02, or 1.2%, to $1,717.12 an ounce, ranging from $1,686.60 to $1,718.40.
- Sister metal palladium advanced for a second straight day. Palladium for March delivery surged $12.80, or 1.7%, to $771.40 an ounce. It traded between $752.50 and $774.90.
Bullion Prices in London
Precious metals in London were mixed Tuesday with platinum and palladium up and gold and silver down. In contrasting the Monday PM to Tuesday PM Fix prices:
- Gold shed $4.50, or 0.3%, to $1,647.50 an ounce,
- Silver fell 32.0 cents, or 1.0%, to $30.84 an ounce,
- Platinum gained $8.00, or 0.5, to $1,708.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium soared $16.00, or 2.1%, to $765.00 an ounce
US Bullion Coin Sales in February
Sales advanced Tuesday across every type of U.S. Mint bullion coin. Gains were modest for the most part, and are shown in the second columns in the two tables below.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | Feb Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 31,000 | 1,000 | 32,000 | 156,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 18,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 28,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 5,000 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 | 135,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 74,500 |
| American Eagle Silver Coins | 129,500 | 979,500 | 459,000 | 1,438,500 | 8,936,500 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | Feb Sales | All-Time Sales | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 400 | 100 | 500 | 22,400 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | -400 | 600 | 20,600 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25,400 |
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104,900 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 200 | 2,000 | 2,200 | 45,700 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 2,000 | -2,060 | 2,000 | -60 | 35,600 |
| TOTAL | 2,000 | -460 | 3,700 | 3,240 | 294,600 |
The Chaco Culture silver coin total moved down 400 on Monday. The Chickasaw silver coin total last Tuesday was adjusted lower by 2,260. The week earlier its sales had trimmed by 40. Such negative adjustments are very atypical in U.S. Mint reported bullion coin sales.
All bullion figures above are in the number of coins sold. Calculate total ounces by using the bullion coin’s weight.
