Gold futures bounced from earlier profit-taking declines, ending higher Tuesday for a ninth consecutive time.
Gold for April delivery added $5.80, or 0.4%, to close at $1,324.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. U.S. dollar weakness was supportive of the yellow metal, opined analysts.
"The premium for gold and silver has increased as people are nervous about U.S. growth," David Meger, the director of metal trading at Vision Financial Markets in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "The turmoil in the currency market has also pushed people toward precious metals."
Gold traded from a low of $1,312.30 to a high of $1,332.40. The precious metal soared 4.4% last week. U.S. markets closed Monday in observance of the Presidents’ Day Holiday.
Last week, silver prices rallied 7.5%. Gains extended to eleven straight sessions on Tuesday. Silver for March delivery settled at $21.90 an ounce, rising 48 cents, or 2.2%. Prices ranged from $21.32 to $21.97.
PGMs snapped winning streaks on Tuesday with platinum down for the first time in eight sessions and palladium off for the first time in four sessions. In PGM future prices on Tuesday:
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April platinum declined $5.60, or 0.4%, to $1,424.50 an ounce, trading between $1,416 and $1,434.
- Palladium for March delivery dipped 45 cents to $737.15 an ounce, ranging from $729.35 to $742.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals declined. In contrasting the London fix prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold slipped $6.75, or 0.5%, to $1,320.75 an ounce,
- Silver fell 28 cents, or 1.3%, to $21.37 an ounce,
- Platinum shed $5, or 0.3%, to $1,424 an ounce, and
- Palladium lost $3, or 0.4%, to $736 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in February
U.S. Mint bullion sales advanced for one-ounce coins. Mint distributors ordered 654,500 Silver Eagles; 2,000 Gold Eagles; and 1,000 Gold Buffalo coins.
Silver Eagles topped 2.4 million for the month and 7.1 million for the year. Since the series start in 1986, just three other years through the first two full months recorded higher sales.
Below is a current sales breakdown across all the U.S. Mint bullion products.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week-To-Date Sales | Sales Last Week | Feb Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 5,000 | 9,000 | 71,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 14,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 20,000 | 30,000 | 190,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 4,500 | 10,500 | 52,000 |
| American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 654,500 | 900,000 | 2,404,500 | 7,179,500 |
