Precious metals rebounded Thursday from the previous day’s trouncing. Gold’s recovery was weakest at a modest 0.6% while silver led the metals with a daily pick-up of 2.9%.
"We think a large part of why gold conceded so much (Wednesday) came down to three other factors – $1,800 was proving to be too much of a hurdle and a certain staleness had entered the market; positioning had increased very swiftly in recent weeks; and physical demand has been non-existent," said UBS in a note cited on Reuters. "What the physical community do from here is hugely important," he added.
After dropping by more than $77 on the previous day, gold prices added $10.90 to $1,722.20 an ounce in the April futures contract on the Comex in New York. Gold bracketed a low and high of $1,695.10 and $1,726.40.
"Precious metals opened with gains this morning as market participants were hard at work trying to repair at least part of the substantial damage that was incurred on Wednesday," writes Jon Nadler, Senior Analyst at Kitco Metals Inc.
"A knee-jerk reaction was to be expected after such a rout, but there is still apprehension in the pits related to margin calls, a change in open interest, and the upcoming ‘slow’ seasonal period in gold (extending up to May/June)."
Silver prices for May delivery rebounded $1.019 to $35.661 an ounce, trading between $34.455 and $35.705. The white metal was off $2.563 on Wednesday.
Platinum prices for April delivery added $8.50, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,701.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,677.00 to $1,704.30.
Palladium prices for June delivery advanced $8.35, or 1.2%, to $716.75 an ounce, ranging from $699.00 to $719.60.
London Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were playing catch-up to Wednesday losses in New York as prices dropped significantly. When comparing the London PM fixings between Wednesday and Thursday, gold prices fell $56.00 to $1,714.00 an ounce, silver declined $2.67 to $34.56 an ounce, platinum lost $40.00 to $1,686.00 an ounce, and palladium retreated $19.00 to $703.00 an ounce.
U.S. Mint Bullion Coins
The U.S. Mint’s most popular bullion coins have advanced for four straight days now, with the American Silver Eagle jumping 200,000 and the one ounce American Gold Eagle surging 8,500, representing 43% of the bullion coin’s entire gain in February.
The following are the latest available monthly and year-to-date bullion sales figures.
| Sales of U.S. Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coins | ||
|---|---|---|
| March Gains | YTD 2012 | |
| American Gold Eagles (1 oz.) | 8,500 | 113,000 |
| American Gold Eagles (1/2 oz.) | 0 | 49,000 |
| American Gold Eagles (1/4 oz.) | 0 | 40,000 |
| American Gold Eagles (1/10 oz.) | 0 | 90,000 |
| American Gold Buffalo Coin (1 oz.) | 0 | 20,500 |
| American Silver Eagles | 200,000 | 7,797,000 |
| Sales of America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coins | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prior Weekly | Weekly Gains | All-Time Total | |
| Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 84,600 |
| Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 37,300 |
| Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Coin | 0 | 300 | 28,400 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | 150,300 |
All bullion coin totals in the above tables are in the number of coins sold, not the amount of ounces. The U.S. Mint does not generally publish daily sales figures for its five-ounce silver coins. These latest sales are as of Monday, February 27, 2012.
