Gold rallied Thursday, extending gains that began on Wednesday when minutes from the latest Fed policy meeting spurred buying.
Gold for December delivery jumped $19.30, or 1.6%, to end at $1,225.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,219.30 to a high of $1,234.
"Follow-through from the Fed commentary yesterday is keeping a boost under precious metals," Phil Streible, a senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "Everyone thought they were extremely hawkish and that they were going to raise rates soon, and now it appears they’re not going to do that because everyone is afraid of a global slowdown."
Silver for December delivery surged 35 cents, or 2.1%, to settle at $17.42 an ounce. It traded between $17.35 and $17.72.
PGM futures also advanced. In their closings Thursday:
-
January platinum gained $11.40, or 0.9%, to $1,278.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,271.70 to $1,294.80.
- Palladium for December delivery turned up $4.05, or 0.5%, to $800.50 an ounce, trading between $796.50 and $812.75.
London Fix Precious Metals
In contrasting the London bullion Fix prices and the LBMA Silver Price from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold added $9.75, or 0.8%, to $1,226.75 an ounce,
- Silver rose 29 cents, or 1.7%, to $17.64,
- Platinum gained $7, or 0.5%, to $1,282 an ounce, and
- Palladium added $11, or 1.4%, to $809 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in October
United States Mint coin sales were unchanged Thursday as of 3:32 PM ET. Gold coin sales on the week are already the highest since January. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold last week, this week so far, last month, in early October, and the year to date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | September Sales | October Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 0 | 2,700 | 400 | 16,700 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 17,000 | 50,500 | 21,000 | 317,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 36,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 96,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 30,000 | 10,000 | 450,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 7,000 | 14,500 | 9,500 | 149,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,740,000 | 600,000 | 4,140,000 | 2,250,000 | 34,501,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,500 | 0 | 3,500 | 0 | 33,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 21,500 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 800 | 0 | 22,000 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 800 | 800 | 4,500 | 1,300 | 13,300 |
