In precious metals prices on Thursday, gold and silver registered very slight gains, while platinum and palladium recorded solid losses.
Gold for February delivery rose by $1.80, or 0.09%, to settle at $2,017.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage but have faded recently. A three-month-old uptrend on the daily bar chart has been negated and prices are now trending down. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $2,050.00," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $2,004 and $2,025.60. They fell by 0.5% on Wednesday, they edged up by 0.2% on Tuesday, and they shed 0.4% on Monday.
Rising for a third day, silver for March delivery climbed by 3.8 cents, or 0.2%, to settle $22.927 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $22.76 to $23.16. They advanced by 1.9% on Wednesday, they rose by 0.7% on Tuesday, and they fell by 1.8% on Monday, ending at their lowest price since Nov. 10.
In other precious metals prices on Thursday:
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April platinum declined by $20.40, or 2.2%, to $894.50 an ounce, trading between $892.50 and $911.50.
- Palladium for March delivery fell by $30.80, or 3.2%, to $942.90 an ounce, ranging from $933.50 to $972.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
On Thursday, for the first time this week, the U.S. Mint reported bullion sales gains, including 13,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 25,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 2,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday / This Week | Last Week | November | December | 2023 Sales | January | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 11,000 | 8,000 | 40,000 | 15,000 | 924,000 | 71,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 102,000 | 22,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 0 | 16,000 | 0 | 198,000 | 40,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 35,000 | 55,000 | 15,000 | 675,000 | 90,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 2,500 | 4,000 | 14,000 | 5,500 | 387,000 | 38,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 25,000 | 846,000 | 2,378,000 | 525,000 | 24,750,000 | 4,900,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 | 0 |
