Gold futures extended gains into a third session Monday as analysts noted strong physical demand and bargain hunting.
Gold for June delivery advanced $25.60, or 1.8%, to end at $1,421.20 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The precious metal tagged an intraday low of $1,403.50 and reached a high of $1,438.80.
"Physical buying has really taken a lot of people by surprise, and many companies are struggling to keep up demand," MarketWatch quoted Jan Skoyles, head of research at The Real Asset Co., a precious-metals investment platform provider.
"Strong demand has surfaced for physical gold (bars, coins, jewelry) in the wake of this month’s collapse in prices," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc., said in the daily PM Kitco Metals Roundup." This is a major factor working to lift gold prices up from last week’s lows and beginning to suggest a market bottom is in place."
Rising for the first time since Tuesday and from the lowest settlement price since February 2010, silver for May delivery climbed 36.4 cents, or 1.6%, to end at $23.324 an ounce. Silver traded from a low of $23.07 to a high of $23.65.
In PGM futures Monday:
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July platinum gained $12.90, or 0.9%, to $1,436.80 an ounce, ranging from $1,424.60 to $1,445.50.
- Palladium for June delivery settled up $4.85, or 0.7%, to $681.90 an ounce, trading between $674.70 and $685.40.
Last week, precious metals futures registered loss totals of 7% for gold, 12.8% for silver, 4.8% for platinum and 4.5% for palladium.
London Fix Precious Metals
Aside from silver, precious metals in London started the week higher. In contrasting the Friday PM to Monday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold added $19.00, or 1.4%, to $1,424.50 an ounce,
- Silver dipped 6.0 cents, or 0.3%, to $23.60 an ounce,
- Platinum edged up $9.00, or 0.6%, to $1,434.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium advanced $6.00, or 0.9%, to $683.00 an ounce
Losses across the precious metals last week were 8.5% for gold, 13.6% for silver, 5.4% for palladium and 5.9% for platinum.
US Bullion Coin Sales in April
Sales of U.S. Mint bullion coins started the week strong, extending robust advances in April
American Silver Eagles jumped 681,000 to top 3 million for the month and 17 million for the year. Last year Silver Eagle sales did not hit 17 million until June 25. Introduced in 1986, the bullion coins did not even attain 17 million in annual sales until 2008. April sales have doubled those from April 2012.
American Gold Eagle sales rose 7,500 ounces. Monthly sales of 175,000 are already the highest since December 2009. For a comparison, sales in April 2012 reached 20,000 ounces.
American Gold Buffalo coins gained 7,000 for a month-to-date total of 21,500, nearly doubling the sales stats from February and from March.
U.S. Mint bullion sales by day, for April and the year-to-date follow.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Weekly Sales | April Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 7,000 | 104,000 | 7,000 | 155,500 | 402,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 7,000 | 0 | 11,000 | 37,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 18,000 | 0 | 22,000 | 68,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 5,000 | 50,000 | 5,000 | 85,000 | 300,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 7,000 | 14,500 | 7,000 | 28,500 | 123,500 |
| American Eagle Bullion Silver Coins | 681,000 | 675,000 | 681,000 | 3,068,000 | 17,291,000 |
All bullion figures above are in the number of coins sold. Calculate total ounces by using the bullion coin’s weight. 2011-2012 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins sold out on March 1, 2013. The U.S. Mint is not yet selling any of this year’s five ounce coins.
