Precious metals futures kicked of the new trading month on Tuesday with losses ranging from 0.9% for gold to 2.5% for palladium.
Gold for June delivery dropped $12.40 to settle at $1,306.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since March 1.
"The recent solid rally in the U.S. dollar index, which hit a four-month high today, continues to squelch buyer interest in the precious metals markets," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Chart-based selling has also kicked in for gold and silver recently, as their near-term technical postures have deteriorated."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,302.30 to a high of $1,317.40. They dipped 0.3% on Monday, the final trading day in April — a month in which gold fell 0.6%.
Silver for July delivery shed 27.4 cents, or 1.7%, to end at $16.127 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.07 and $16.37. They fell 0.6% on Monday but logged a 0.8% increase in April.
In other precious metals futures:
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July platinum declined $10.20, or 1.1%, to $894.20 an ounce, ranging from $893.20 to $907.40.
- Palladium for June delivery ended down $24.30 to $936.25 an ounce, trading between $934.40 and $960.10.
London Precious Metals Prices
LBMA bullion prices are available on the LBMA 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. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / May | Last Week | This Week | March | April | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 500 | 2,500 | 4,000 | 47,500 |
| $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 | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 100,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 500 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 30,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 75,000 | 230,000 | 915,000 | 915,000 | 6,007,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 30,000 | 30,000 |
