Precious Metals Futures Fall, Gold Ends at 2-Month Low

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Bullion gold bars and US $100s.
Precious metals futures posted declines Tuesday that ranged from 0.8% for gold to 3% for palladium

Precious metals futures declined Tuesday. Gold closed at its lowest level in more than two months, pressured as the U.S. dollar rallied following comments from Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer that raised prospects for a September rate increase.

Gold for December delivery declined $10.60, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,316.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since June 23 when gold ended at $1,263.10 an ounce.

"Fischer’s comments this morning made me raise my odds for a September rate hike," Bloomberg News quoted Marty McGuire, a managing director-market strategy at TJM Investments. "Gold is breaking down a little bit, and it’s been knocking around a trend line that dates from late June."

Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,314.90 to a high of $1,328.90. They inched up less than 0.1% in the prior session.

Elsewhere, silver for September delivery fell 18.6 cents, or 1%, to settle at $18.673 an ounce. The close is the lowest since Thursday. Silver futures traded between $18.64 and $19.04. On Monday, they gained 0.6%.

Rounding out metals trading:

  • October platinum lost $24.50, or 2.3%, to $1,056.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,055.40 to $1,084.50.

  • Palladium for December delivery declined $21.05, or 3%, to $678.20 an ounce, trading between $674.45 and $703.30.

London Precious Metals Prices

U.K. markets closed Monday for holiday. In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Tuesday PM:

  • Gold dipped 60 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,318.15 an ounce.
  • Silver added 11 cents, or 0.6%, to $18.78 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

U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:20 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.

US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins)
Tuesday Sales Last Week This Week July Sales Aug Sales 2016 Sales
$100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* 0 1,000 0 19,000 1,000 20,000
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins 0 6,000 9,500 30,000 47,000 483,000
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins 0 1,000 0 2,000 3,000 51,000
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins 0 2,000 0 10,000 4,000 100,000
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins 0 15,000 10,000 50,000 60,000 615,000
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins 0 2,500 1,500 10,000 9,000 131,500
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins 0 430,000 270,000 1,370,000 1,280,000 28,900,500
2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* 0 0 0 0 0 105,000
2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* 0 0 0 0 0 75,000
2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins 0 500 1,000 0 1,900 36,100
2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins 0 500 27,500 0 27,500 27,500

 

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Joe C.

Hope gold drops below 1300. That would take about 12 bucks off of the quarter gold coin.