On Thursday, there was a divergence in the prices of precious metals, as gold and palladium experienced declines while silver and platinum saw increases.
Gold for April delivery slipped by $3.80, or 0.2%, to settle at $2,047.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The reality on the ground is that the U.S. economy continues to be fairly firm and that means that the Fed has very little latitude at this stage to start cutting rates," Reuters quoted Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.
"For gold to rally, we have to start seeing evidence that the economy indeed is slowing down in a material way and that inflation is trending lower on a sustained basis," Melek added.
Gold futures traded between $2,034.60 and $2,053.80. They edged 30 cents higher on Wednesday, they rose by 0.4% on Tuesday, and they gave back 0.5% on Monday.
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery climbed by 27.6 cents, or 1.2%, ending at $22.636 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $22.19 to $22.71. They shed 0.5% on Wednesday, they rose by 0.3% on Tuesday, and they declined by 1.6% on Monday.
In other precious metals prices on Thursday:
-
April platinum advanced by $7.10, or 0.8%, to $894 an ounce, trading between $877.50 and $895.90.
- Palladium for March delivery fell by $8.20, or 0.9%, to $892.10 an ounce, ranging from $860 to $908.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
On Wednesday, for the first time this month, the U.S. Mint reported bullion sales gains, including 5,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 850,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos. On Thursday, no changes were reported.
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 | Last Week | Week / February | January | 2024 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 16,500 | 3,000 | 87,500 | 90,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 46,000 | 46,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 115,000 | 135,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 500 | 46,500 | 47,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 850,000 | 4,900,000 | 5,750,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
