Precious metals stepped lower on the day. Pressured Thursday by strength in the U.S. dollar, gold futures posted their eighth loss in nine sessions. The yellow metal had settled at a ten-month high before its string of declines.
Gold for April delivery dipped $1.50, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,286.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold’s recent pullback has been supported by strong trade talk optimism between China and the U.S., relief that a no-deal Brexit is unlikely and U.S. economic growth is cooling, not collapsing," MarketWatch quoted Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. Still, "with most of the advanced economies remaining or becoming accommodative, gold could soon find some support."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,280.80 to a high of $1,289.60. They rose 0.2% on Wednesday, shed 0.2% on Tuesday — ending at their lowest level since Jan. 24, and declined 0.9% on Monday.
Silver for May delivery fell 4.5 cents, or 0.3%, to close at $15.04 an ounce. The settlement was the weakest since Dec. 24. Silver futures traded between $14.98 and $15.13. They declined 0.1% on Wednesday, finished unchanged Tuesday and declined 1% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures prices Thursday:
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April platinum declined $11, or 1.3%, to $817.10 an ounce, ranging from $814.40 to $830.10.
- Palladium for June delivery fell $4, or 0.3%, to $1,482.40 an ounce, trading between $1,470.20 and $1,510.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM
- Gold edged down 55 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,285.30 an ounce.
- Silver declined 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $15.075 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
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 | Last Week | January | February | March / This Week | 2019 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 600 | 27,100 | 2,400 | 0 | 29,500 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 44,500 | 11,000 | 1,500 | 57,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 15,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 100,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 23,500 | 6,000 | 500 | 30,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 100,000 | 4,017,500 | 2,157,500 | 0 | 6,175,000 |
