Precious metals futures were, once again, mostly lower Tuesday. Gold eased just enough to log a third straight session loss. Platinum and palladium posted heavier declines. Silver, meanwhile, ended higher for the first time in seven sessions.
Gold for December delivery inched down 20 cents to close at $1,310.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since Aug. 25.
"The gold bulls still have the overall near-term technical advantage, but have faded and need to show fresh power soon to avoid serious near-term technical damage, including a price uptrend on the daily chart being negated," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Gold bulls’ next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close above solid technical resistance at $1,340."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,308.70 to a high of $1,314.30. They lost 1.1% in their start to the week on Monday.
Silver for December delivery advanced 12.3 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $17.279 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $17.16 to $17.34. They dropped 3.1% on Monday, ending at their weakest point since Aug. 25.
In rounding out precious metals dealings on Tuesday:
-
October platinum declined $9.90, or 1%, to $951.20 an ounce, trading between $947.20 and $965.
- Palladium for December delivery dropped $26.15, or 2.8%, to $904.30 an ounce, ranging from $902.45 to $935.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold declined $2.50 or 0.2%, to 1,309.60 an ounce.
- Silver fell 38 cents, or 2.2%, to $17.15 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
United States Mint bullion coins registered their first gains of the week. Gold coins advanced by a combined 4,500 ounces and American Silver Eagles climbed by 50,000 coins.
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 / This Week | Last Week | August | September | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 2,000 | 6,500 | 6,000 | 168,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 29,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 5,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 325,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,500 | 0 | 3,000 | 1,500 | 76,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 50,000 | 50,000 | 1,025,000 | 125,000 | 15,703,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 40,000 | 0 | 40,000 |
