Gold and silver declined for the fourth time in five sessions as the U.S. dollar firmed Thursday against other world currencies.
Gold for December delivery lost $12.10, or 0.9%, to close at $1,324.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The precious metal traded between $1,319.20 and $1,340. Gold rallied on Wednesday by 1.5%.
"The metal continues to suffer as global conditions progress, albeit slowly, toward more recovery than not," MarketWatch quoted Jonathan Citrin, founder and executive chairman at CitrinGroup.
"There is plenty of unrest that could occur, particularly with U.S. budget talks again reaching the eleventh hour," he said. "But the depressed price of gold itself is currently enough to scare off traders unless something major develops in the world."
Silver for December delivery dipped 12 cents, or 0.6%, to $21.77 an ounce, ranging from $21.67 to $22.13. Silver prices advanced 1.4% in the prior session.
In PGM futures on Thursday:
-
January platinum dropped $17.60, or 1.2%, to $1,414.70 an ounce, trading between $1,412.80 and $1,438.10.
- Palladium for December delivery shed $2.25, or 0.3%, to $723.45 an ounce, ranging from $721 to $726.80.
London Fix Precious Metals
Excluding a modest drop in platinum, earlier London bullion fixings advanced. In contrasting the Wednesday PM to Thursday PM London fix prices:
- Gold gained $10.25, or 0.8%, to $1,333 an ounce,
- Silver added 29 cents, or 1.3%, to $21.97 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $2, or 0.1%, to $1,424 an ounce, and
- Palladium climbed $5, or 0.7%, to $724 an ounce
U.S. Mint Bullion Sales in September
For a second day, sales levels were unchanged for United States Mint bullion products. In coin totals are the latest daily, September and year-to-date U.S. Mint bullion sales figures:
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | September Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 8500 | 605,000 |
| $25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 53,000 |
| $10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 104,000 |
| $5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 465,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 3,500 | 9,000 | 199,000 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,800 | 35,000 |
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,400 | 25,000 |
| Great Basin 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 25,000 |
| Fort McHenry 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14,700 | 25,000 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 675,000 | 656,500 | 2,506,500 | 35,581,500 |
