Aside from platinum, precious metals futures advanced Thursday. Gold, silver and palladium extended their winning streaks to three in a row. Gold and silver also finished at new multi-month highs.
Gold for February delivery tacked on $8.10, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,281.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the best since June 14 when gold ended at $1,308.30 an ounce.
"Gold prices are trading toward their six-month high as investors factor in all the risk despite the fact that we have seen a stellar rally in the equity markets yesterday," MarketWatch quoted Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst with Think Markets UK.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,269.10 to a high of $1,281.60. They edged up less than 0.1% on Wednesday and they rose 1.1% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery added 18.7 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $15.31 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since silver ended at $15.462 an ounce on Aug. 9. Silver futures traded between $15 and $15.34. They surged 2% on Wednesday and they gained 0.8% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures prices Thursday:
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April platinum declined $3.50, or 0.4%, to $801.40 an ounce, ranging from $790.10 to $807.10.
- Palladium for March delivery advanced $8.60, or 0.7%, to $1,194.50 an ounce, trading between $1,181.50 and $1,198. A week ago Wednesday, Dec. 19, palladium ended at a record of $1,201.30 an ounce.
London Precious Metals Prices
London markets had been closed since Monday. In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Monday to Thursday PM:
- Gold rose $6.75, or 0.5%, to $1,268 an ounce.
- Silver jumped 38 cents, or 2.6%, to $15.055 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 / This Week | Last Week | November | December | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 16,000 | 2,000 | 190,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 32,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 62,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 230,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,500 | 1,500 | 121,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 100,000 | 1,645,000 | 350,000 | 15,560,000 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Voyageurs 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Cumberland Island 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,500 |
| Block Island 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 80,000 | 0 | 80,000 |
