Precious metals rallied in their November start Thursday, logging gains ranging from 1.2% for palladium to 3.5% for silver. Gold finished at a more than fifteen-week high.
Gold for December delivery surged $23.60, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,238.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since gold ended at $1,239.70 an ounce on July 16.
"The pretty aggressive drop in the U.S. dollar was a significant catalyst for gold today," Reuters quoted Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.
"The drop in the U.S. bond yields, dollar and improvement in Chinese yuan were major factors and we continue to have volatility in the equity markets. With all of that we have seen significant short covering in gold."
Gold futures ranged from a low $1,216.10 to a high of $1,239.30. On Wednesday, they dropped 0.8% to mark their lowest close since Oct. 10 but they still posted a 1.6% increase in October.
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery soared 49.5 cents to settle at $14.777 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $14.25 and $14.83. On Wednesday, they closed out the month of October with a 2.9% loss.
In other precious metals futures prices on Thursday:
-
January platinum gained $19.80, or 2.4%, to $862.80 an ounce, ranging from $840.20 to $864.50.
- Palladium for December delivery rose $12.90 to $1,081.40 an ounce, trading between $1,061.10 and $1,087.80.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold gained $16.20, or 1.3%, to 1,231.15 an ounce.
- Silver rose 11 cents, or 0.8%, to $14.45 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday / November | Last Week | This Week | September | October | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 2,500 | 14,500 | 19,500 | 170,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 26,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 60,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 | 10,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 11,000 | 6,500 | 114,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 200,000 | 75,000 | 2,897,500 | 1,405,000 | 13,540,000 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Voyageurs 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Cumberland Island 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,500 | 0 | 52,500 |
