Gold prices ended at a three-and-a-half month low to start the new trading week Tuesday following a holiday break for Memorial Day.
Gold for June delivery tumbled $26.20, or 2%, to close at $1,265.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement price was the lowest since gold ended at $1,262.90 an ounce on Feb. 7.
"Gold prices ended the U.S. day session sharply lower and scored a 3.5-month low Tuesday. The long holiday weekend in the U.S. saw potential geopolitical tensions de-escalate," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Risk appetite has picked up in the world market place this week, as U.S. and some European stock indexes are at or near record or multi-year highs. Technical selling was also featured in gold Tuesday, as key chart support levels were penetrated on the downside, which set off pre-placed sell stop orders."
Gold prices on the day traded from a low of $1,264.30 to a high of $1,294.80. Gold dipped 0.1% last week.
Silver for July delivery shed 35 cents, or 1.8%, to end at $19.07 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $19.03 to $19.50. Silver advanced 0.5% last week.
In PGM futures on Tuesday:
-
July platinum dropped $10.50, or 0.7%, to $1,462.30 an ounce, trading between $1,461.10 and $1,483.50.
- Palladium for June delivery declined 80 cents, or 0.1%, to $830.65 an ounce, ranging from $827 to $835.70.
Platinum gained 0.5% last week while palladium soared 2%.
London Fix Precious Metals
London markets closed for Bank Holiday Monday. When comparing London precious metals fixings from Friday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold declined $16, or 1.2%, to $1,275.50 an ounce,
- Silver fell 17 cents, or 0.9%, to $19.25 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $16, or 1.1%, to $1,467 an ounce, and
- Palladium shed $6, or 0.7%, to $834 an ounce
Last week, gold ended unchanged while other precious metal fixings advanced with gains of 0.5% for silver, 1.3% for platinum and 1.5% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales
Sales of U.S. Mint bullion products advanced across the most popular one-ounce American Eagle coins as well as the newest 5 oz. silver coin.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Tuesday, last week last month, the month so far, and the year-to-date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / Week-To-Date Sales | Sales Last Week | April Sales | May Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 300 | 1,200 | 1,000 | 12,200 |
| $50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 4,000 | 11,000 | 26,000 | 26,500 | 153,000 |
| $25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 6,000 | 68,000 |
| $5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 55,000 | 30,000 | 320,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 17,500 | 9,000 | 92,000 |
| $1 American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 201,150 | 300,000 | 3,569,500 | 3,763,150 | 21,211,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 10,600 | 4,000 | 27,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 200 | N/A | 18,400 | 18,400 |
Anybody notice there are no Reverse silver eagle proof sets scheduled as of May 2014 at the US Mint !