Gold prices settled lower Tuesday following Monday’s holiday break for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and after closing at a five-week high on Friday.
Gold for February delivery lost $10.10, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,241.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,235.10 to a high of $1,262.
"Gold prices hit a five-week high in overseas trading, but as action moved to the U.S. some technically related selling pressure set in," said Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc. "A firmer U.S. dollar index early on also weighed on the gold and silver markets. However, when the dollar index slipped below unchanged on the day gold prices bobbed up from their daily lows."
Lower for the fourth time in five sessions, silver for March delivery lost 43 cents, or 2.1%, to end at $19.87 an ounce. Silver traded from a low of $19.66 to a high of $20.44.
In rounding out the precious metals complex:
-
April platinum slipped 60 cents to $1,453.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,437 to $1,473.
- Palladium for March delivery dipped 50 cents to $748.05 an ounce, trading between $741 and $752.25.
London Fix Precious Metals
London bullion fixings fell as well. In contrasting the London fix prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold declined $17.75, or 1.4%, to $1,238 an ounce,
- Silver fell 26 cents, or 1.3%, to $20.03 an ounce,
- Platinum dropped $26, or 1.8%, to $1,444 an ounce, and
- Palladium lost on $6, or 0.8%, to $743 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in January
Sales of U.S. Mint gold bullion coins turned up slightly Tuesday with the one-half ounce American Eagle gold coin rising 2,000.
Sales of 2014 American Silver Eagles increased by 480,000. Released on Jan. 13, the bullion coins now total 3,944,000. Not too many more will move in the next few days. The U.S. Mint had indicated that this week’s allocation would run about 500,000 – 600,000 coins. There was also 111,000 remaining from last week’s allocation.
The following table offers a breakdown of latest U.S. Mint bullion sales.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Daily Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 56,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 12,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 28,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 39,500 |
| American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 480,000 | 3,944,000 |
