Precious metals marked gains on Tuesday that ranged from 0.4% for gold to 1.2% for both silver and palladium. Gold extended its session gains to ten in a row for a fresh, nearly 7-year high, silver registered a 15-week high, and palladium ended at another record.
Gold for February delivery rose $5.50 to settle at $1,574.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since April 9, 2013 when the yellow metal ended at $1,586.70 an ounce.
"The latest spike in gold prices is being driven by the sudden escalation in US-Iran tensions, which is hitting world stock markets and leading investors to seek shelter," MarketWatch quoted Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault.
However, "underlying demand for gold had already turned higher in 2019, most especially among investors in the Eurozone, where negative interest rates are forcing savers and investors to find better homes for their money than bank accounts or debt investments."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,557 to a high of $1,574.90. They gained 1.1% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery added 21.4 cents to end at $18.393 an ounce. The close was the strongest since silver finished at $18.628 ounce on Sept. 24. Silver futures traded between $17.97 and $18.46. They edged ahead 0.2% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures Tuesday
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April platinum gained 5.40, or 0.6%, to $971.60 an ounce, ranging from $961.70 to $981.80
- Palladium for March delivery tacked on $24.70 to a record settlement of $2,014.30 an ounce. Palladium traded between $1,980.50 and $2,023.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold declined $5.25, or 0.3%, to $1,567.85 an ounce.
- Silver dropped 29.5 cents, or 1.6%, to $18.145 an ounce.
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. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | Last Week | November | December | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 108,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin* | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 38,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 1,500 | 61,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 14,863,500 |
| Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 |
| San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,200 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72,500 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | |||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | |||
