Gold extended its session wins to three Monday, gaining in seven of its last eight closings. The precious metal’s safe-haven appeal grew as investors worried over the eurozone impact of a bailout plan for Cyprus.
Gold for April delivery added $12.00, or 0.8%, to end at $1,604.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York. There has been no higher close for the yellow metal since February 26. Prices ranged from an intraday low of $1,589.60 to a high of $1,610.40. Gold prices last week advanced $15.70, or 1.0%.
News surfaced Monday about a possible taking of Cypriot bank deposits to secure the island’s financial rescue, and that was supportive of gold.
"What the bailout of Cyrpus reveals is that heavily indebted governments may consider the actual savings of its citizenry in play," MarketWatch quoted Peter Grant, chief market analyst at USAGold. "That would naturally heighten the appeal of alternative means of saving outside of the banking system, such as gold."
Silver tracked gold. Up for a second session, silver for May delivery added 2.3 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $28.874 an ounce. The precious metal ranged from $28.585 to $29.110. Silver last week shed 0.3%.
PGMs moved lower Monday:
-
April platinum declined $13.20, or 0.8%, to $1,579.20 an ounce, trading between $1,572.30 and $1,597.10.
- Palladium for June delivery fell $10.80, or 1.4%, to $764.85 an ounce, trading between $753.20 and $779.00.
Last week, platinum declined 0.7% and palladium slid 0.9%.
London Precious Metals
London bullion split Monday with gold higher and other precious metals lower. In contrasting the Friday PM to Monday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold advanced $8.25, or 0.5%, to $1,603.75 an ounce,
- Silver declined 11.0 cents, or 0.4%, to $28.80 an ounce,
- Platinum slid $13.00, or 0.8%, to $1,580.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium fell $9.00, or 1.2%, to $765.00 an ounce
London precious metals fixings climbed last week with increases of 0.9% for gold, 0.5% for silver, 0.3% for platinum and 0.7% for palladium.
US Bullion Coin Sales in March
Exactly one week ago, American Silver Eagle bullion coins crossed the 12 million milestone for 2013. The 99.9% fine silver coins debuted in 1986 and had never even achieved annual sales of 12 million until 2008. And until last week, the 12 million mark had never been reached so soon into a year.
On Monday, the bullion coins topped 13 million in sales. The latest milestone is a first through the first three months of a year. In 2012, the Silver Eagles did not hit 13 million in sales until May 16. The achievements this year are more impressive considering sales had been suspended in mid-January due to exhausted inventories. The U.S. Mint resumed sales by the end of that month but continues to limit the amount its distributors may order.
Current sales for each of the U.S. Mint’s bullion products follow.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | March Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 7,500 | 0 | 29,500 | 222,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 3,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 42,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 20,000 | 200,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 6,500 | 90,500 |
| American Silver Eagle Coins | 638,000 | 814,500 | 638,000 | 2,349,500 | 13,216,000 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | 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.
A government deciding to tax a bank account? No way!
This may be the black swan that causes physical demand for precious metals to over run the paper market and its short players. ‘Velly intellesting!’ (Was that line from “Laugh In”,? I don’t remember.)
Yes Way..!! Unthinkable stuff like that is happening all over Europe. I think I read that they rcvd so much opposition that they delayed doing it for now, but that won’t stop them. They’ll figure out another way to steal the money they want when everyone’s guard is down. And don’t think it can’t happen in the USA. The way things are spiraling out of control here, you can bet that within 10 years, they’ll have taken our 401k accounts, and God knows what else. @Kevin: Yes, that line was from Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. Arte Johnson said it: “Veeeeedy… Read more »