Precious metals advanced Thursday, led by silver with gold in the middle yet crossing the $1,300 an ounce resistance level. Gold’s gain follows a 50-cent dip on Wednesday, the first time in eight sessions that prices ended lower.
Gold for February tacked on $7, or 0.5%, to close at $1,300.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement price is the highest since Aug. 15.
Lifting safe-haven gold buying on the day, the European Central Bank expanded its bond-buying stimulus program by 60 billion euros, or about $69.7 billion, a month.
"The size of the package was a positive surprise for the gold market, and we are seeing an increase in safe-haven buying after the plunge in the euro," David Meger, the director of metal trading at HighRidge Futures LLC in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "Gold will continue to get bid in this low-interest environment."
Gold traded from $1,279.10 to $1,301. Prices have advanced 1.9% since Friday.
Extending its winning streak to six sessions, silver for March delivery added 17 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $18.36 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $17.89 to $18.45. The precious metal has rallied $1.37, or 8.1%, since last ending lower at $16.99 an ounce on Jan. 14.
In PGM futures on Thursday:
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April platinum picked up $8.40, or 0.7%, to $1,284.80 an ounce, trading between $1,270 and $1,290.30.
- Palladium for March delivery rose $4.05, or 0.5%, to $772.30 an ounce, ranging from $758.20 to $777.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals moved mostly lower, with gold the exception. In comparing London bullion Fix prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold gained $2.25, 0.2%, to $1,295.75 an ounce,
- Silver slid 14 cents, or 0.8%, to $18.08 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $6, or 0.5%, to $1,279 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $12, or 1.5%, to $766 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in January
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Thursday but they did advance late on Wednesday by 2,500 ounces in gold coins.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Wednesday, this week so far, in December, last year, and the year to date. Coins with an asterisk (*) have sold out for 2014 with 2015-dated versions yet to be released.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | December Sales | 2014 Sales | January / 2015 Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,900 | 0 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 23,500 | 1,000 | 13,000 | 415,500 | 50,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 0 | 46,000 | 18,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 2,000 | 6,000 | 118,000 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 565,000 | 100,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 14,000 | 0 | 4,500 | 177,500 | 32,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 3,701,500 | 954,500 | 2.459M | 44.006M | 4.656M |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33,000 | 0 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 1,100 | 24,400 | 500 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22,000 | 0 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 21,900 | 0 |
| Everglades 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 34,000 | 0 |
