Gold futures rose Thursday but settled well off their earlier high as a rising U.S. dollar began to tarnish the yellow metal’s appeal.
Gold for December delivery climbed 70 cents to finish at $1,370.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices traded from an intraday low of $1,354.50 to a high of $1,381.40 an ounce. Minutes from the last Fed meeting remained in the news, as was better-than-expected Chinese manufacturing data.
"The Fed minutes were largely a nonevent for gold, but the metal experienced a fairly significant sell-off in the Globex aftermarket [electronic trading], and in overnight trading in Asia," MarketWatch quoted Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter.
"The slide was halted, and eliminated, as the flash HSBC Purchasing Managers’ Index for China came in very positively," he said. "The flash reading indicates that China’s economy is growing faster than the consensus had been expecting, and this is bullish for gold and other commodities."
Snapping a three-session losing streak, silver prices for September delivery added 7.2 cents, or 0.3%, to close at $23.04 an ounce. The precious metal ranged from $22.45 to $23.33. Silver is 29 cents lower than its close last week.
PGMs posted the largest gains on Thursday:
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October platinum gained $21, or 1.4%, to $1,540.10 an ounce, trading between $1,504.20 and $1,544.
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Palladium for September advanced $8.15, or 1.1%, to $755.05 an ounce, ranging from $740.10 to $755.30.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metals fixings logged mostly modest increases. In contrasting the Wednesday PM to Thursday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold climbed the most, up $12, or 0.9%, to $1,375 an ounce,
- Silver prices rose 13 cents, or 0.6%, to $23.07 an ounce,
- Platinum added $5, or 0.3%, to $1,523 an ounce, and
- Palladium for a second day inched up $1, or 0.1%. It was fixed at $750 an ounce
US Bullion Sales
As happened on Wednesday, United States Mint bullion sales on Thursday advanced for gold coins and were muted for silver coins. Gold coin sales rose 4,500 ounces. Splits were 2,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 2,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalo coins. Sales on the day, the week, the month and year-to-date follow.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | August Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 1,500 | 1,000 | 3,500 | 5,000 | 592,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 48,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 98,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 455,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 2,500 | 1,500 | 4,000 | 8,500 | 188,500 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | 30,000 |
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 300 | 1,300 | 1,600 | 22,400 |
| Great Basin 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,700 | 1,700 | 19,100 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 746,000 | 850,000 | 2,446,000 | 31,896,000 |
Figures above are in the number of coins sold, not in ounces.
