Gold ended barely lower Tuesday, trading within a narrow $15 range. Still, its loss was the third in four sessions.
Gold for December delivery fell 50 cents to close at $1,324.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices ranged from $1,315.40 to $1,330.80. The precious metal advanced $15.20, or 1.2%, on Monday.
"After an initial period of calm, gold finally reacted yesterday afternoon to the U.S. budget dispute and the approach of the debt ceiling being reached," analysts at Commerzbank said in a note relayed on MarketWatch.
"As there is still no sign of the dispute being resolved, market players will remain unsettled and interest in gold as a safe haven and crisis currency should increase. Moreover, the Fed will probably postpone its retreat from quantitative easing, which could also help to push prices up."
Silver for December delivery added 5.7 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $22.44 an ounce. The precious metal traded from a low of $22.11 to a high of $22.53.
In PGM futures on Tuesday:
-
January platinum inched up $1.80, or 0.1%, to $1,403.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,397 to $1,411.30.
- Palladium for December delivery gained $9.55, or 1.4%, to $714.90 an ounce, trading between $702.30 and $717.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metals fixings logged stronger gains. In contrasting the Monday PM to Tuesday PM London fix prices:
- Gold added $6, or 0.5%, to $1,329.50 an ounce,
- Silver gained 53 cents, or 2.4%, to $22.30 an ounce,
- Platinum advanced $21, or 1.5%, to $1,407 an ounce, and
- Palladium rose $15, or 2.2%, to $712 an ounce
U.S. Mint Bullion Sales in October
United States Mint bullion sales advanced across one- and five-ounce coins. In splits by content, gold coins climbed by 1,000 ounces and silver coins went up by 197,500 ounces. Amounts by product type are shown in the following table:
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | October Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 610,000 |
| $25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 54,000 |
| $10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 106,000 |
| $5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 470,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,500 | 1,000 | 5,500 | 205,500 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | Sold Out | 35,000 | |||
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,200 | 0 | 1,200 | 26,200 |
| Great Basin 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,200 | 0 | 2,200 | 27,200 |
| Fort McHenry 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 600 | 2,000 | 600 | 2,600 | 27,600 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 194,500 | 675,000 | 679,500 | 866.500 | 36,954,500 |
How is the Mint able to sell coins if our government is shut down? Essential services?
To Timbou – – – Good question. Also, How is it the BEP can still print money and see to it that the new $100 dollar bills are being shipped? My answer is: Anything that makes them money they will keep open.
Because like the Post Office they are not dependent on Congress for their budget as they turn a profit