Precious metals divided Thursday with gold and silver rising slightly and platinum and palladium falling modestly. Gold’s gain was enough to establish a six-week settlement high.
Gold for February delivery tacked on $8.30, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,814.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Nov. 19 when gold ended at $1,851.60 an ounce.
"We’re in an extremely low-volume holiday-type trading. I think gold is comfortable right around either side of $1,800," Reuters quoted Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago.
Gold futures traded between $1,796.20 and $1,815.30. They shed 0.3% on Wednesday, they rose 0.1% on Tuesday, and they dipped 0.2% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery rose 20.2 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $23.06 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $22.63 to $23.15. They fell 1.1% on Wednesday, they gained 0.6% on Tuesday, for their highest settlement since Nov. 24, and they edged 0.2% higher on Monday.
In other precious metals futures prices on Thursday:
-
April platinum lost $5.40, or 0.6%, to $964.60 an ounce, trading between $958 and $973.40.
- Palladium for March delivery dipped $3.80, or 0.2%, to $1,983.20 an ounce, ranging from $1,949.50 to $2,017.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged on 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 / This Week | Last Week | October | November | December | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 135,500 | 125,500 | 41,000 | 1,115,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 95,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 22,000 | 10,000 | 2,000 | 162,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 85,000 | 40,000 | 0 | 490,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 41,000 | 39,500 | 10,500 | 350,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 1,076,000 | 1,523,500 | 0 | 28,275,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 | 8,700 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
Yeah, it must be a raw ride, harder for traders than investors.
Indeed, Sir Kaiser, there is a big difference between playing with Other People’s Money (OPM) and having your own skin in the game, and being an Armchair Quarterback.