Gold futures slipped slightly lower Thursday, while platinum and palladium posted larger losses. Silver, however, advanced for a second day in a row.
Gold for August delivery shed $4.30, or 0.4%, to close at $1,159.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices ended the U.S. day session modestly lower Thursday, as the world market place was calmer. That prompted more trader/investor risk appetite, which was bearish for safe-haven gold," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report.
"Gold did briefly push above unchanged in morning trading Thursday when U.S. jobless claims rose to 294,000 in the latest reporting week, which was more than expected. However, those minor gains for gold could not be held," Wyckoff added.
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,155.10 to a high of $1,166.90 The precious metal in the prior session advanced by $10.90 or 0.9%.
Matching the gains on Wednesday, silver for September delivery rose 20 cents, or 1.3%, to settle at $15.36 an ounce. Silver prices traded from $14.98 to $15.53.
In other precious metals futures on Thursday:
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October platinum declined $13.40, or 1.3%, to $1,022.400 an ounce, ranging from $1,021 to $1,041.40.
- Palladium for September fell $15.50, or 2.4%, to $638 an ounce, trading between $635.90 and $664.35.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London precious metals prices advanced. In comparing London bullion prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold added $5.75, or 0.5%, to $1,164.25 an ounce,
- Silver jumped 39 cents, or 2.6%, to $15.38 an ounce,
- Platinum rose $16, or 1.6%, $1,032 an ounce, and
- Palladium gained $12, or 1.9%, to $654 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in July
The United States Mint lifted sales of American Silver Eagles by 100,000 to 2,709,000 for the month. The increase was somewhat of a surprise since the agency on Tuesday said its inventory ran out and it would be about two weeks before sales resumed.
Below is a listing of U.S. Mint bullion products that shows the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available. Those with a double asterisk (**) are temporarily unavailable.
US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thursday Sales | Last Week | This Week | June Sales | July Sales | YTD Sales | |
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 21,000 | 23,500 | 62,500 | 32,500 | 231,000 |
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 38,000 |
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 8,000 | 6,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 80,000 |
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 85,000 | 25,000 | 415,000 |
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 7,500 | 4,000 | 21,000 | 6,500 | 103,000 |
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins** | 100,000 | 1,932,000 | 1,927,000 | 4,840,000 | 2,709,000 | 24,495,000 |
2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | ||||
2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 42,000 | ||||
2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins** | – | – | 35,000 | – | 35,000 |
Demand for Silver Eagles spiked in the first week of this month leading the U.S. Mint to run out of its entire August inventory of coins. This coincided with a counter-intuitive 3.8% plunge in price last Monday.