Precious metals divided Thursday with gold and silver rising and platinum and palladium falling. Gold’s gain was its first in four sessions, and comes on the heels of the yellow metal closing at a two-month low.
Gold for December delivery rose $8.50, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,876.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,851 to a high of $1,880.90. They shed 2.1% on Wednesday — marking their worst settlement since July 22, they lost 0.2% on Tuesday, and they fell 2.6% on Monday.
"Gold was very aggressively long positioned. As volatility moved higher, real interest rates moved up along with the dollar, and people took profits," Reuters quoted Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.
Silver for December delivery added 9.1 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $23.196 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $21.81 and $23.44. They dropped 5.8% on Wednesday — logging their lowest settlement since July 24, they edged 0.6% higher on Tuesday and they plunged 10.1% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures prices Thursday:
-
October platinum shed $5, or 0.6%, to $838 an ounce, ranging from $821.30 to $847.70.
- Palladium for December delivery gave back $31.40, or 1.4%, to $2,226.90 an ounce, trading between $2,193.10 and $2,250.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold declined $11.65, or 0.6%, to $1,861.75 an ounce.
- Silver fell $1.375, or 5.8%, to $22.22 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Thursday. 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) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | July | August | September | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,500 | 9,500 | 107,500 | 104,000 | 18,500 | 557,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 3,000 | 58,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 4,000 | 88,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35,000 | 70,000 | 10,000 | 290,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 30,000 | 28,000 | 4,500 | 188,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 331,000 | 517,000 | 1,084,500 | 4,477,000 | 1,888,000 | 20,066,000 |
| America Samoa 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Weir Farm 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Salt River Bay 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Marsh Billings 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Tallgrass Prairie 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | N/A | 45,000 | N/A | N/A | 45,000 | 45,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,500 |
