Gold settled back above $1,700 an ounce Thursday, snapping a two-session losing streak that drove prices to a one-month low.
Gold for February delivery advanced $8.00, or 0.5%, to close at $1,701.80 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Prices moved through an intraday trading range of between $1,687.10 and $1,704.80.
The gold rebound is "based on bargain hunting along with European Central Bank cutting its economic growth forecast," MarketWatch quoted Jeffrey Wright, managing director at Global Hunter Securities. "So, [it’s] a little safe-haven action, coupled with the end of short-term profit taking."
The ECB forecasts that eurozone economic growth will be, at best, stagnant during 2013. Expectations are for the bloc’s gross domestic product to decline 0.3% in 2013. That compares to ECB’s prior estimates of 0.5% growth.
In other metals, March silver advanced 15.7 cents, or 0.5%, to $33.114 an ounce, trading between $32.60 and $33.33.
Platinum for January delivery settled to $1,600.70 an ounce, rising $16.50 or 1.0%. Prices ranged from $1,573.40 to $1,601.90.
March palladium prices advanced $9.60, or 1.4%, to $697.05 an ounce, trading between $683.00 and $700.80.
Bullion Prices in London
Precious metals in London were mixed with mostly modest changes. In contrasting the most recent PM fixings:
- Gold climbed 25 cents to $1,694.25 an ounce,
- Silver lost 24.0 cents, or 0.7%, to $32.83 an ounce,
- Platinum dipped $5.00, or 0.3%, to $1,582.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium added $5.00, or 0.7%, to $686.00 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in December
Sales levels for U.S. Mint bullion coins advanced for a third straight day. U.S. Mint distributors ordered 5,500 ounces of gold coins and 25,000 ounces of silver coins. 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 / December Sales | YTD 2012 | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coins | 4,000 | 68,000 | 22,500 | 616,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coins | 1,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 70,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 72,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 315,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coins | 1,000 | 6,500 | 3,500 | 127,500 |
| American Silver Eagle Coin | 25,000 | 500,000 | 753,000 | 32,860,500 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date / December Sales | All-Time Total | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 21,900 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,100 | 0 | 25,400 |
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,400 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85,900 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39,500 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29,700 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 4,500 | 2,000 | 262,400 |
Sales above are in the number of coins sold. Total ounces may be calculated by using the weight of the coin.
I hope everyone could buy when it was @ a low price!!
but Palladium is still low + used in almost all electronics toy we love so much