Most precious metals futures declined Tuesday. Gold was among them, though little changed overall. Silver was the exception, logging another close at its best level in about a month.
Gold for April delivery shed a dime to settle at $1,255.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices ended a choppy, two-sided trading session slightly lower Tuesday. A solid rebound in the U.S. stock market from its recent slide helped to pressure the safe-haven metal today," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "A higher U.S. dollar index on this day was also a negative for the precious metals. Gold prices also saw a bit of profit taking from recent gains that pushed prices to a four-week high Monday."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,249 to a high of $1,258.40. On Monday, they closed at their highest point since Feb. 27.
Ending higher for a fourth session in a row, silver for May delivery tacked on 14.4 cents, or 0.8%, to $18.252 an ounce. The settlement is the strongest since March 1 when prices closed at $18.489 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $18.02 and $18.26. They jumped 2% in the previous session.
In rounding out precious metals action:
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April platinum declined $11.60, or 1.2%, to $957.40 an ounce, ranging from $949.30 to $971.20.
- Palladium for June delivery lost $1.85, or 0.2%, to $792.60 an ounce, trading between $785.05 and $797.95.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold dipped 30 cents to $1,257.25 an ounce.
- Silver was unchanged at $17.94 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 2017
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:48 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Tuesday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Feb Sales | Mar Sales | 2017 Sales | |
$100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,500 | 1,000 | 21,000 | 15,500 | 123,000 |
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 25,000 |
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 42,000 |
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 35,000 | 190,000 |
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 15,000 | 7,000 | 54,000 |
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 795,000 | 25,000 | 1,215,000 | 1,320,000 | 7,662,500 |
2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 200 | 19,500 | 200 | 19,700 |
2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | |||||
2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coin* | – | |||||
2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coin* | – | |||||
2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |