Precious metals divided Thursday with gold and platinum rising and silver and palladium falling. Their change from Wednesday was mostly modest. Gold’s daily increase was its first in five sessions and comes on the heels of an almost eight-month low.
Gold for April delivery edged up $2.20, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,775 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold got "hit hard the last couple trading sessions because of the rising bond yields and ongoing recovery in the U.S. dollar," James Hatzigiannis, chief market strategist at Ploutus Capital Advisors, told MarketWatch. "There are just much more attractive assets at this point."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,766.60 to a high of $1,788.80. They dropped 1.5% on Wednesday, for their lowest settlement since June 25, and they lost 1.3% in starting the new trading week on Tuesday.
Silver for March delivery declined 23.7 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $27.078 an ounce, trading between $26.90 and $27.60. They inched 0.04% lower on Wednesday and they gave back less than a half cent on Tuesday.
In other precious metals futures prices Thursday:
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April platinum tacked on $17, or 1.4%, to $1,274.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,252.20 to $1,296.10. On Tuesday, the metal at $1,279.60 an ounce registered its best settlement since Jan. 22, 2015.
- Palladium for March delivery fell $20.90, or 0.9%, to $2,348.80 an ounce, trading between $2,332 and $2,395.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold declined $7.55, or 0.4%, to $1,773.15 an ounce.
- Silver rose 5 cents, or 0.2%, to $27.165 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
United States Mint bullion sales increased Thursday by 7,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles.
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 | December | January Sales | February | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 7,000 | 37,000 | 17,000 | 48,500 | 191,000 | 118,500 | 309,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 22,000 | 0 | 22,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36,000 | 0 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 95,000 | 0 | 95,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 4,500 | 10,500 | 61,500 | 16,000 | 77,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 500,000 | 680,000 | 751,000 | 4,775,000 | 2,801,000 | 7,576,000 |
| America Samoa 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Weir Farm 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Salt River Bay 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marsh Billings 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tallgrass Prairie 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
