Gold and silver futures extended their winning streaks on Tuesday to six sessions in a row, each advancing 1% and logging multi-year highs — a more than 2.3-year high for gold and a fresh 2-year high for silver.
Gold for December delivery tacked on $13 to end at $1,372.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since Mar. 17, 2014 when gold ended at $1,372.90 an ounce. Gold futures traded from a low of $1,353.70 to a high of $1,374.20.
"Gold and the other precious metals prices have been supported recently by a slumping U.S. dollar index," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "The near-term technical postures for the precious metals markets are also fully bullish, which is inviting fresh chart-based buying interest."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery gained 20.1 cents to settle at $20.701 an ounce. The close is the highest since July 23, 2014 when prices ended at $21 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $20.38 to $20.84.
In rounding out the precious metals complex:
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October platinum climbed $8.80, or 0.8%, to $1,172.10 an ounce, trading between $1,159 and $1,183.30.
- Palladium for September delivery added $1.45, or 0.2%, to $717.70 an ounce, ranging from $713.90 to $724.70.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold rose $14.10, or 1%, to $1,363.75 an ounce.
- Silver added 20 cents, or 1, to $20.71 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
United States Mint bullion coins were unchanged Tuesday, and have yet to hit the sales boards this week. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods of time. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / August Sales | Last Week | June Sales | July Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins | 0 | 19,000 | N/A | 19,000 | 19,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 7,500 | 62,500 | 30,000 | 436,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 48,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 96,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 25,000 | 70,000 | 50,000 | 555,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 14,500 | 10,000 | 122,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 175,000 | 2,837,500 | 1,370,000 | 27,620,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 34,200 | 0 | 34,200 |
