In precious metals on Tuesday, platinum declined, while gold, silver and palladium gained. Of the three, silver was the best performing and ended the day at a near two-month high.
Gold for April delivery snapped a two-session losing streak by rising $19.70, or 1%, to settle at $1,973.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold and silver prices are up in midday U.S. trading Tuesday on some perceived bargain hunting, and amid a lower U.S. dollar index and higher crude oil prices on this day," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,949.90 and $1,977. They dropped 1.5% on Monday. As recently as Thursday, the price of gold reached $1,995.90 an ounce, logging its highest settlement since March 10, 2022.
Rising for the fourth time in five sessions, silver for May delivery tacked on 27.5 cents, or 1.2%, to end at $23.42 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since Feb. 2. Silver futures ranged from $22.96 to $23.51, and they shed 0.8% on Monday.
In other precious metals prices on Tuesday:
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July platinum — the new, most-active contract — declined $10.60, or 1.1%, to $971.90 an ounce, trading between $965 and $988.90.
- Palladium for June delivery rose $10.60, or 0.8%, to $1,414.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,386.50 to $1,419.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Tuesday, published sales figures from the U.S. Mint showed an increase in bullion coins for the first time this week. Specifically, American Gold Eagles saw gains of 26,000 ounces while American Gold Buffalos increased by 9,500 ounces.
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | Last Week | January Sales | February | March | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 26,000 | 107,500 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 183,500 | 343,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 84,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 9,500 | 38,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 67,000 | 145,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 450,000 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 5,749,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 7,500 | N/A | N/A | 7,500 | 7,500 |
I’ve always wondered why the concentration is on pm futures rather than spot prices.
“I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today” Interesting question about futures Kaiser. The futures market makes sense for things that can’t be supplied today like fall soybeans. It makes sense for mine operators to lock in a price so they know the mines can operate at a profit in the coming months despite the daily fluctuations. It provides a guess about the expectations of the buyer and seller about the future price, but if I want it today, I pay spot. (actually $15 over spot for silver)
I like the way, kia99, that you differentiate between items for sale in the present as opposed to those which for whatever reason aren’t yet available. Per the criteria you laid out it does seem that precious metals would be more likely to fall into the former rather than the latter category and as such spot prices would appear to be more relevant than would futures prices when it comes to them.