Gold and silver rebounded Thursday, snapping three-session losing streaks as the U.S. dollar weakened and bargain hunting took hold. Silver led precious metals with a 2% gain and closed at a seven-week high.
Gold for February delivery — the new, most active contract — advanced $10.70, or 0.6%, to $1,729.50 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Prices traded through a range of $1,720.10 to $1,731.20.
"Investors are taking advantage of [Wednesday’s pullback] and buying gold," MarketWatch quoted David Beahm, vice president at precious-metals investment firm Blanchard & Co. "Gold is up over $20 from yesterday’s low. This trend will continue for the rest of this year and into 2013."
Gold must climb by more than $21.90 Friday to tip higher for the week. Other precious metals look to pad weekly increases with any additional pick-ups.
Silver for March delivery — the new, most active contract — gained 66.1 cents to $34.431 an ounce. The settlement price was the highest for silver since October 10. The precious metal traded between an intraday low of $33.61 and a high of $34.49.
Platinum for January delivery rose $7.80, or 0.5%, to $1,619.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,605.00 to $1,625.80.
Palladium for March delivery rallied $12.25, or 1.8%, to $687.45 an ounce, trading between $668.25 and $692.00.
Bullion Prices in London
Aside from silver, London precious metals advanced Thursday. In contrasting the most recent PM fixings:
- Gold added $17.00, or 1.0%, to $1,725.00 an ounce,
- Silver shed 9.0 cents, or 0.3%, to $33.76 an ounce,
- Platinum gained $31.00, or 2.0%, to $1,620 an ounce, and
- Palladium jumped $31.00, or 4.8%, to $682.00 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in November
Thursday went down as a very solid day of bullion sales for the U.S. Mint.
Another 11,000 ounces of American Eagle gold coins sold, lifting the November sales total to 131,000 ounces. That is the highest amount for a month since January 2011 when sales reached 133,500 ounces.
Sales advanced 1,500 for American Buffalo gold coins. The month at 15,500 is the best since 26,000 sold in March.
American Eagle silver coins moved up 75,000 for a new November total of 3,134,500. Higher 2012 months include October at 3,153,000; September at 3,255,000 and January at 6,107,000.
A breakdown of U.S. Mint sales by bullion coin are in the tables below.
| US Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | November Sales | YTD 2012 | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coins | 10,500 | 10,000 | 63,000 | 124,500 | 589,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coins | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 4,000 | 67,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 70,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 35,000 | 315,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coins | 1,500 | 2,000 | 5,500 | 15,500 | 123,000 |
| American Silver Eagle Coin | 75,000 | 394,000 | 475,000 | 3,134,500 | 32,082,500 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | November Sales | All-Time Total | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,800 | 19,900 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,800 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 3,100 | 3,600 | 25,400 |
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,600 | 1,400 | 7,500 | 20,000 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85,900 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39,500 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29,700 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 3,600 | 4,500 | 19,700 | 260,400 |
Bullion sales above are in the number of coins sold, not the amount of ounces.
