Thursday turned into a bearish day for most precious metals. Gold and platinum declined for a second day in a row while silver dropped for the first time in eight sessions. Bucking the negative trend, barely, palladium rose 50 cents.
Gold futures for February delivery fell $16.80, or 1.0%, to $1,669.90 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Gold settled nearer the intraday low, which was $1664.20. It reached a high of $1,685.80.
"Gold once again failed to bust through the $1,700 mark. It’s been trying on and off for a month now," MarketWatch quoted Ben Traynor, chief economist at BullionVault. "It looks like some speculative longs have concluded it isn’t going to happen yet so they might as well close out their position."
Falling from a six-week high, March silver declined 71.7 cents, or 2.2%, to $31.722 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $31.605 to $32.245.
Platinum for April delivery lost $8.00, or 0.5%, to $1,683.80 an ounce, trading between $1,676.00 and $1,693.00. Sister metal palladium edged up with March palladium futures gaining a half-dollar to $726.70 an ounce. It traded between $716.60 and $728.80.
London Precious Metals
London bullion prices fell Thursday. In contrasting the latest London PM Fix prices:
- Gold declined $19.25, or 1.1%, to $1,671.00 an ounce,
- Silver lost 38.0 cents, or 1.2%, to $31.85 an ounce,
- Platinum fell $18.50, or 1.1%, to $1,680.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium retreated $3.00, or 0.4%, to $722.00 an ounce
Sales of US Mint Bullion Coins
Sales levels for U.S. Mint bullion coins remained unchanged Thursday for a second straight day. The latest daily, week-to-date and year-to-date bullion sales follow.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | 2013 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 23,500 | 3,000 | 107,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 1,000 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 24,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 30,000 | 5,000 | 105,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 27,000 | 66,500 |
| American Eagle Silver Coin* | 0 | 1,225,000 | 0 | 6,007,000 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | All-Time Sales | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | 0 | 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 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 95,600 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41,200 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31,400 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 275,500 |
Coin sales figures shown above are in the number of coins sold. Calculate total ounces by using the bullion coin’s weight.
