Gold futures declined on Tuesday for a fifth straight session, and marked their lowest settlement in about six weeks as the U.S. dollar strengthened.
Gold for June delivery fell $23.30, or 1.8%, to end at $1,229.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was the weakest since April 14 when gold closed at $1,226.50 an ounce.
"The recent uptrend in the U.S. dollar index remains a bearish outside market force for the precious metals markets," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "The dollar index hit a seven-week high today. A rally in the U.S. stock market Tuesday also pulled away buying interest in the safe-haven gold market."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,228 to a high of $1,252.80.
Silver for July delivery dropped 16.9 cents, or 1%, to settle at $16.254 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since April 18 when silver ended at $16.253 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $16.23 to $16.46.
In other precious metals futures on Tuesday:
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July platinum shed $8.90, or 0.9%, to $1,004.20 an ounce, trading between $1,001.40 and $1,016.
- Palladium for June delivery lost $12.30, or 2.2%, to $537.95 an ounce, ranging from $531.10 to $551.55.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold declined $9.05, or 0.7%, to $1,236.85 an ounce.
- Silver declined 4 cents, or 0.3%, to $16.27 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
U.S. Mint bullion sales increased on Tuesday by 32,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles. The Mint is limiting Silver Eagle sales this week to 1,057,500 coins. Bullion distributors ordered 81.4% of them through Tuesday. 2016 American Silver Eagles are running at a record pace with 22,803,500 sold, representing a 37.6% increase over those sold through same time in record-breaking year 2015.
Below is a sales breakdown of United States Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods of time.
US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tuesday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Mar Sales | Apr Sales | May Sale | 2016 Sales | |
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 18,500 | 8,500 | 29,000 | 93,500 | 47,000 | 326,000 |
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 40,000 |
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 14,000 | 8,000 | 74,000 |
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 30,000 | 5,000 | 75,000 | 55,000 | 45,000 | 420,000 |
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 7,000 | 19,500 | 15,000 | 94,500 |
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 32,000 | 970,000 | 861,000 | 4,106,000 | 4,072,000 | 3,889,000 | 22,803,500 |
2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 11,000 | 0 | 0 | 64,000 | 11,000 | 75,000 |
Gold futures are tanking! US Mint gold coin products prices will go down by $50 per ounce tomorrow if downward spiral continues. Good news for collectors of the next centennial gold tribute coin.
Happy collecting everyone!
-NumisDudeTX