Gold prices rose 0.7% Monday after falling in four of the previous five sessions and tumbling 3.3% last week. The metal saw gains, opined analysts, in large part due to bargain hunters.
"A lot of it has to do with bargain hunting," said Rohit Savant, an analyst with CPM Group in New York. The lower prices after a weekly route enticed investors back, he added, according to MarketWatch.
Gold prices added $11.50 to $1,667.30 an ounce in the April futures contract on the Comex in New York. Gold traded between an intraday low of $1,652.30 and a high of $1,670.10.
"According to the latest Bloomberg survey of gold traders, the crowd is showing the lowest level of bullishness in circa sixty days in the wake of gold having erased more than half of 2012’s gains recently," notes Jon Nadler, Senior Analyst at Kitco Metals Inc.
"However, with an RSI figure nearing the 38 level (with 30 or so generally being sufficiently oversold to ignite some kind of recovery bounce) there is scope for a bit of a repair to take place in the metal."
Silver prices for May delivery advanced 35.1 cents, or 1.1%, to $32.955 an ounce, moving between $32.33 and $33.09. Silver was the worst performing precious metal last week with its 4.7% loss.
Platinum prices for April delivery added $9.20, or 0.5%, to $1,684.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,670.50 to $1,686.30. Platinum declined 1.2% the previous week.
Palladium prices for June delivery settled up $5.90, or 0.8%, to $707.60 an ounce, trading between $698.00 and $709.25. Palladium lost a modest 0.6% last week.
London Precious Metals
London precious metals were mixed in the week’s start. When comparing the most recent London PM fixings, gold edged up $3.50 to $1,661.50 an ounce, silver rose 17.0 cents to $32.44 an ounce, platinum declined $4.00 to $1,673.00 an ounce, and palladium dipped $1.00 to $702.00 an ounce.
U.S. Mint Bullion Coins
Bullion sales increased for gold and silver American Eagles, according to the latest figures published by the U.S. Mint on Monday.
Gaining the most were Silver Eagles with 215,000 while one-tenth ounce Gold Eagles ranked second with 5,000. The one ounce Gold Eagle added 1,500.
The following are the Mint’s most recent daily monthly and year-to-date bullion coin totals.
| Sales of U.S. Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coins | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Gains | March Gains | YTD 2012 | |
| American Eagles Gold (1 oz.) | 1,500 | 31,500 | 136,000 |
| American Eagles Gold (1/2 oz.) | 0 | 0 | 49,000 |
| American Eagles Gold (1/4 oz.) | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
| American Eagles Gold (1/10 oz.) | 5,000 | 20,000 | 110,000 |
| American Gold Buffalo Coin (1 oz.) | 0 | 18,500 | 39,000 |
| American Eagles Silver | 215,000 | 1,862,000 | 9,459,000 |
| Sales of America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coins | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prior Weekly | Weekly Gains | All-Time Total | |
| Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Coin | 300 | 0 | 84,900 |
| Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Coin | 300 | 0 | 38,100 |
| Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Coin | 300 | 0 | 28,700 |
| TOTAL | 900 | 0 | 151,700 |
All bullion sales in the above tables are in number of coins sold, not in the amount of ounces sold. The U.S. Mint has not sold five ounce bullion silver coins since Monday, March 12.
