Gold rose Thursday, marking a fifth increase in six sessions. Gold prices for April delivery etched out a gain of $2.30, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,590.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Gold bracketed intraday levels of $1,575.20 and $1,592.20.
In the previous session, gold fell for the first time since the first of the month (prices were unchanged on March 6) as the U.S. dollar hit a seven-month high. Gold prices rebounded Thursday as the greenback declined against other world currencies.
"We saw a dollar selloff after the better-than-expected jobs numbers and a corresponding rise in gold," Bloomberg quoted Scott Gardner, who helps manage $400 million at Verdmont Capital SA in Panama City.
Silver edged lower for a second session Thursday after having gained in seven of eight sessions. Silver for May delivery dipped 15.1 cents, or 0.5%, to $28.807 an ounce, ranging from $28.530 to $28.955. Gold and silver have been largely range bound.
"Gold ran out of sellers at about $1,560 per ounce and silver at about $28.50 per ounce. These are still historically high prices for both gold and silver so it would be foolish to ignore the potential dangers below," MarketWatch quoted Phil Storer, director of trading at Dillion Gage Inc.
"However, we are living in what could be a new and therefore frightening era that will generate much greater interest in the precious metals than we’ve seen so far," he added.
In PGM futures Thursday:
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April platinum fell $3.30, or 0.2%, to $1,589.80 an ounce, trading between $1,578.50 and $1,594.90.
- Palladium for June delivery declined 50.0 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $770.75 an ounce, ranging from $755.55 to $774.65.
London Precious Metals
For a second day, London precious metals retreated across the board. In contrasting the Wednesday PM to Thursday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold prices shed $3.25, or 0.2%, to $1,586.00 an ounce,
- Silver lost 48.0 cents, or 1.6%, to $28.64 an ounce,
- Platinum fell $12.00, or 0.8%, to $1,583.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $7.00, or 0.9%, to $766.00 an ounce
US Bullion Coin Sales in March
U.S. Mint sales increased Thursday for American Eagle silver bullion coins. The 99.9% pure silver coins climbed 110,000 to 1,711,500 for the month to date. No other bullion coins logged gains on the day. U.S. Mint bullion product sales follow.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | March Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 18,000 | 5,000 | 27,000 | 219,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 24,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 40,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 200,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coins | 0 | 5,500 | 1,000 | 6,500 | 90,500 |
| American Silver Eagle Coins | 110,000 | 897,000 | 814,500 | 1,711,500 | 12,578,000 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | March Sales | All-Time Sales | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | Sold Out | 0 | 24,000 | ||
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 600 | 24,400 | |||
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 25,400 | |||
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 20,000 | |||
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 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 | 0 | 0 | 10,400 | 58,100 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,800 | 48,700 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19,800 | 325,500 |
All bullion figures above are in the number of coins sold. Calculate total ounces by using the bullion coin’s weight.
