Gold and silver bounced from multi-year lows as safe-haven demand picked up Tuesday after Turkey shot down a Russian jet fighter.
Gold for December delivery added $7, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,073.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold futures got a nice bounce up on increased geopolitical news with Turkey and the Russian airplane development," Phil Streible, a senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News.
Gold prices traded from a low of $1,068.10 to a high of $1,080.70. They started the trading week on Monday with a 0.9% loss and settled at their lowest level since Feb. 8, 2010.
Silver for December delivery tacked on 13 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $14.16 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $14.02 to $14.27. They slipped by 0.5% on Monday for their weakest settlement price since Aug. 21, 2009.
In PGM futures on Tuesday:
-
January platinum fell $5.70, or 0.7%, to $841.70 an ounce, trading between $836.80 and $852.
- Palladium for December delivery inched up 15 cents to $541.50 an ounce, ranging from $533.30 to $545.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices also advanced. In comparing their levels from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold rose $5.90, or 0.6%, to $1,076.40 an ounce.
- Silver added 16 cents, or 1.1%, to $14.14 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales
United States Mint bullion sales posted another robust day with gold coins jumping 17,000 ounces and silver coins rising 188,500 ounces.
Demand for U.S. Mint coins has climbed sharply in recent weeks. With almost a week still left in the month, November sales of:
- American Eagle gold bullion coins at 97,000 ounces are the highest since September
- American Buffalo gold bullion coins at 29,000 ounces are the strongest since July
- American Eagle silver bullion coins at over 4 million are the most since August
The U.S. Mint limited Silver Eagle sales this week to 1 million coins. Buyers have now claimed 92.2% of them, leaving 78,000 left until week. Sales at 43,851,500 for the year are tracking a record, up 6.4% from the same time in 2014. Last year when Silver Eagle sales ended at an annual record of just over 44 million, the bullion coins by Nov. 24, 2014 had posted sales of 41,217,000. On Tuesday, the U.S. Mint said it will sell the 2015-dated coins through the week of Dec. 7 and begin taking orders for 2016 Silver Eagles on Jan. 11.
Below is a listing of U.S. Mint bullion products with the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Oct Sales | Nov Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 7,500 | 39,000 | 16,000 | 26,000 | 80,500 | 626,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 7,000 | 74,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4,000 | 12,000 | 158,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | 55,000 | N/A | 50,000 | 100,000 | 980,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins* | 9,500 | 9,000 | 12,000 | 10,500 | 29,000 | 210,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 188,500 | 900,000 | 922,000 | 3,788,000 | 4,009,000 | 43,851,500 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | 35,000 | ||||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 42,000 | |||||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 45,000 | |||||
| 2015 Bombay Hook 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 45,000 | |||||
