Gold, silver and platinum climbed for a second straight session on Thursday while palladium moved ahead for a fourth day in a row.
Gold for April delivery added $8.60, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,210.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The closing was the highest since Feb. 13.
"Having fallen to a seven-week low earlier in the week, gold has rebounded slightly back above the $1,200 level," MarketWatch quoted James Chen, chief technical strategist at City Index. "With major downside support residing around the $1,180 level, the current price area could serve as a tentative bottoming stage for the precious metal."
In heavier trading action compared to recent days, gold traded from a low of $1,203.40 to a high of $1,219.90. Gold prices on Wednesday rose $4.20, or 0.4%.
The two-day rally "is mainly due to the Chinese being back in the market showing some stronger physical demand," Bloomberg News quoted Daniel Briesemann, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. Yellen’s testimony eased concern that borrowing costs will rise soon, and "definitely helped gold," he said.
Silver for May delivery — the now most active contract — advanced 15 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $16.62 an ounce. Silver traded between $16.28 and $16.70. Prices climbed in the prior session by 24 cents, or 1.5%.
In PGM futures on Thursday:
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April platinum rose $4.80, or 0.4%, to $1,173.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,171 to $1,192.60.
- Palladium for June delivery edged up $1.75, or 0.2%, to $811.05 an ounce, trading between $806.90 and $816.60.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals moved higher as well. In comparing London bullion Fix prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold gained $3.50, or 0.3%, to $1,208.25 an ounce,
- Silver jumped 31 cents, or 1.9%, to $16.82 an ounce,
- Platinum added $15, or 1.3%, to $1,181 an ounce, and
- Palladium rose $10, or 1.2%, to $813 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in February
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:50 PM ET. Below are U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying time periods.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | January Sales | February Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 4,500 | 3,500 | 51,500 | 12,500 | 64,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 20,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36,000 | 0 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 115,000 | 50,000 | 165,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 34,500 | 12,000 | 46,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 720,000 | 718,500 | 5,530,000 | 2,963,000 | 8,493,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 14,500 | 5,000 | N/A | 19,500 | 19,500 |
