Precious metals gained on Thursday and are positioned to potentially increase over a longer term by Friday, with gains ranging from solid for the week to extraordinary for the month. The trading day ended with gold at its best price in more than a year, and silver at its highest price in over two months.
Gold for June delivery rose $13.20, or 0.7%, to end at $1,997.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since March 10, 2022.
"Gold continues to find support on the dips as it remains supported by falling interest-rate expectations, a weakening U.S. dollar, some safe-haven demand, as well as strong physical demand from China," Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com, told MarketWatch. "On top of this, you have strong technical bullish momentum, which is helping to keep the downside limited for now."
Gold futures traded between $1,971.60 and $2,002.40. They slipped 0.3% on Wednesday, they gained 1% on Tuesday, and they dropped 1.5% on Monday. The yellow metal is 8.8% higher on the month to date.
Rising for the sixth time in seven sessions, silver for May delivery jumped 52.3 cents, or 2.2%, to finish at $23.989 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since Jan. 26. Silver futures ranged from $23.37 to $24.10. They edged 0.2% higher on Wednesday, they advanced 1.2% on Tuesday, and they shed 0.8% on Monday. Silver is currently 13.9% higher on the month.
In other precious metals prices on Thursday:
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July platinum settled up $19.50, or 2%, to $996.90 an ounce, trading between $972.10 and $999.
- Palladium for June delivery gained $26.50, or 1.8, to $1,463.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,423 to $1,497.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
Published U.S. 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.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | January Sales | February | March | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 107,500 | 26,000 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 183,500 | 343,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 84,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 38,500 | 9,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 67,000 | 145,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 450,000 | 0 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 5,749,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 7,500 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 7,500 | 7,500 |
