Gold ended lower Thursday as global stocks rebounded and the U.S. dollar firmed.
Gold for April delivery sank $19.70, or 1.6%, to close at $1,242.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold traded from $1,237.50 to $1,267.80.
"The broad markets are quite volatile right now, so I wouldn’t over interpret too much about short-term actions into a long-term trend for the gold market," Reuters quoted Axel Merk, portfolio manager at California-based Merk Funds.
Gold prices on Wednesday rallied $11.40, or 0.9%.
Silver prices also closed lower after climbing 0.3% in the prior session. On Thursday, silver for March delivery sank 43 cents, or 2.2%, to $19.13 an ounce, trading between $18.97 and $19.73.
In PGM futures on Thursday:
-
April platinum declined $25.80, or 1.8%, to $1,382.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,380.00 to $1,420.
- Palladium for March delivery lost $4.30, or 0.6%, to $706.85 an ounce, trading between $705.30 and $717.80.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metals were lower as well. In contrasting the London fix prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold fell $21.50, or 1.7%, to $1,242.50 an ounce,
- Silver declined 27 cents, or 1.4%, to $19.41 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $28, or 2%, to $1,388 an ounce, and
- Palladium shed $7, or 1%, to $713 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in January
U.S. Mint sales of its American Silver Eagle bullion coins rose 29,000, lifting the total since their rationed release on Jan. 13 to 4,755,000. No other U.S. Mint bullion product advanced on the day.
Here is a sales breakdown across all United States Mint bullion products:
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Sales This Week | Sales Last Week | 2014 Sales to Jan. 28 | |
| $50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 62,500 |
| $25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 12,000 |
| $10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28,000 |
| $5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 160,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39,500 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 29,000 | 741,000 | 550,000 | 4,755,000 |
