Precious metals futures finished lower for a second day in row Thursday, with losses ranging from 0.4% for palladium to 0.7% for silver.
Gold for April delivery declined $7.80, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,317.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close is the lowest since March 1.
"The headwinds gold faces are people starting to talk about the interest rate increase and the possibility of a fourth interest rate hike," Reuters quoted Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at EverBank.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,315.50 to a high of $1,328.10. They dipped 0.1% on Wednesday, advanced 0.5% on Tuesday, and slipped 0.2% on Monday.
Silver for May delivery fell 11.5 cents to settle at $16.422 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.37 to $16.58. They declined 0.5% on Wednesday, gained 0.6% on Tuesday, and lost 0.4% on Monday.
In rounding out precious metals futures dealings:
-
April platinum shed $4.60, or 0.5%, to $956.90 an ounce, trading between $953.80 and $965.80.
- Palladium for June delivery fell $3.75 to $981 an ounce, ranging from $976 to $989.65.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold declined $4.80, or 0.4%, to $1,318.75 an ounce.
- Silver fell 8.5 cents, or 0.5, to $16.52 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
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:50 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | February | March | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 0 | 5,000 | 2,500 | 43,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 95,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 2,500 | 1,000 | 27,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 165,000 | 270,000 | 942,500 | 435,000 | 4,612,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
