Gold and silver tumbled to a one-month low Thursday. The loss for gold marked a third in a row and the fifth time in the last eight sessions since it soared 6.3% in August.
Gold for December delivery declined $33.20, or 2.4%, to $1,330.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement price was the lowest since closing at $1,320.50 an ounce on August 13.
"With gold no longer attractive to the market as a hedge against geopolitical risk, the focus is now shifting back to the perceived September (Fed) taper which is leading to a sell off in gold," said Jeffrey Sica, president and chief investment officer of Sica Wealth Management, in emailed commentary relayed on MarketWatch.
Gold prices on Thursday traded from an intraday low of $1,320.50 to a high of $1,366.20. The precious metal dipped 20 cents on Wednesday and is down 4.7% for the month.
"The physical market has been slow even though gold prices have come down. I would think the price has to fall below $1,350 before we see more buying. Weakness in regional currencies is also curbing buying interest," Reuters quoted a dealer in Singapore.
Silver for December delivery plunged $1.02, or 4.4%, to $22.15 an ounce, ranging from $22.06 to $23.27. The closing price was the lowest since August 14. Silver prices advanced in the previous session by 0.7%.
As for PGM futures in New York:
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October platinum lost $30.80, or 2.1% to $1,442.70 an ounce, trading between $1,437.70 and $1,476.40. It dipped 60 cents on Wednesday.
- Bucking the trend, palladium for December delivery gained $1.60, or 0.2%, to $692.80 an ounce. Prices ranged from $686.00 to $696.95. In the prior session, palladium moved in the opposite direction by 0.2%.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metal fixings declined. In contrasting the Wednesday PM to Thursday PM London fix prices:
- Gold fell $35.75, or 2.6%, to $1,328 an ounce,
- Silver shed 24 cents, or 1%, to $22.67 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $33, or 2.2%, to $1,444 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $10, or 1.4%, to $690 an ounce
U.S. Mint Bullion Sales in September
Sales of the one-ounce American Gold Eagle, the U.S. Mint’s most popular gold product, advanced 1,000 to 600,000 for the year. Last year it took until Dec. 4, 2011 for the gold coins to hit the mark. No other bullion coins advanced Thursday. Sales of the Mint’s five ounce silver coins soared on Wednesday.
In coin totals (not ounces) are the latest daily, September and year-to-date U.S. Mint bullion sales:
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | September Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coin | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 3,500 | 600,000 |
| $25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 49,000 |
| $10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 102,000 |
| $5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 465,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coin | 0 | 500 | 4,000 | 4,500 | 194,500 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,800 | 3,800 | 35,000 |
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,400 | 1,400 | 25,000 |
| Great Basin 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 25,000 |
| Fort McHenry 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coin | 0 | 500 | 14,200 | 14,700 | 25,000 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coin | 0 | 675,000 | 468,000 | 1,143,000 | 34,218,000 |
