Most precious metals futures gained for a second straight day Thursday, ahead of the Christmas holiday break on Friday, but they all still posted weekly losses. Gold’s weekly decline was its first in four weeks.
Gold for February delivery rose $5.10, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,883.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold futures prices are modestly up in midday U.S. trading on this Christmas Eve day. It was a quieter trading session as many U.S. markets, including gold and silver futures, closed early," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily research note.
Gold futures dipped 0.3% this week following three consecutive weekly gains that had boosted prices by a combined $100.80 or 5.6%. They are 23.6% higher on the year to date.
Silver for March delivery gave back 1.3 cents, or 0.05%, to settle at $25.908 an ounce. Silver futures traded 0.5% lower this week after rallying 8.1% last week. They are ahead 44.6% on the year.
In PGM futures on Thursday and for the week:
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January platinum added $11.80, or 1.2%, to close at $1,028.90 an ounce, but logged a weekly loss of 1.4%.
- Palladium for March delivery finished up $6.80, or 0.3%, to $2,345.90 an ounce, but declined 1.1% on the week.
Both are higher for the year so far with advances of 5.2% for platinum and 22.9% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
London precious metals prices ended mixed in comparing their latest day-over-day levels:
- Gold fell $2.45, or 0.1%, to $1,872.55 an ounce.
- Silver rose 46.5 cents, or 1.8%, to $25.78 an ounce.
- Platinum declined $10, or 1%, to $1,009 an ounce.
- Palladium fell $25, or 1.1%, to $2,330 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results, they all registered losses — 0.4% for gold, 0.1% for silver, 2.8% for platinum and 0.04% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion gold sales slowed overall for a second week in a row. Also for a second straight week, sales of U.S. Mint silver bullion coins were muted. In week-over-week comparisons:
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Sales of American Gold Eagles climbed 5,000 ounces after increasing by 12,000 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Buffalo gold increased 2,000 ounces after they rose by 1,500 ounces last week.
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 / This Week | Last Week | October | November | December | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 12,000 | 64,500 | 77,000 | 46,500 | 745,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 70,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 106,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 25,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 350,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 1,500 | 19,500 | 23,500 | 10,500 | 242,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,397,000 | 4,805,000 | 751,000 | 30,089,500 |
| America Samoa 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Weir Farm 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Salt River Bay 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Marsh Billings 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Tallgrass Prairie 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,500 |
Coin News is fantastic and the arithmetic is spot on!