Precious metals futures declined for a third straight session Tuesday, led by palladium which dropped 2.9%. Both silver and gold shed 0.4%.
Gold for April delivery — the now most active contract — declined $5.10 to settle at $1,340 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold is still in the same positive trend it has been in since December, but seeing as tomorrow is the Federal Reserve update, traders may not be too keen to stay long going into the meeting," MarketWatch quoted David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,337.50 to a high of $1,352.50. They fell 0.9% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery gave back 6.9 cents to end at $17.058 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $17.04 to $17.31. They dropped 1.8% on Monday.
In rounding out precious metals futures dealings:
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April platinum fell $10.90, or 1.1%, to $1,001.80 an ounce, trading between $995.20 and $1,012.60.
- Palladium for March delivery sank $30.95 to $1,052.45 an ounce, ranging from $1,045 to $1,086.60.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold rose $1.05, or less than 0.1%, to $1,347.90 an ounce.
- Silver declined 4 cents, or 0.2%, to $17.295 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Last Week | This Week | December | 2017 Sales | 2018 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,500 | 0 | 38,000 | 228,500 | 35,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 3,000 | 37,000 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 64,000 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 25,000 | 395,000 | 75,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 0 | 14,000 | 99,500 | 23,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 325,000 | 100,000 | 742,000 | 18,065,500 | 3,195,000 |
