Precious metals futures declined for another day Tuesday, the fifth in a row for both gold and silver with each falling 0.1%.
Gold for December delivery shed $1.90 to settle at $1,323.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowsest since Sept. 1. Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,322.30 to a high of $1,335.90.
"It was looked at as a safety trade early in the morning. As the day weighed on and the Treasury auction failed to produce the results expected, we saw yields jump up and the gold market fell," Reuters quoted Phillip Streible, senior market strategist for RJO Futures in Chicago.
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery lost 2.5 cents to settle at $18.975 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $18.86 and $19.35.
In other precious metals dealings:
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October platinum declined $6.90, or 0.7%, to $1,036 an ounce, ranging from $1,031.80 to $1,065.90.
- Palladium for December delivery dipped 60 cents, or 0.1%, to $656.10 an ounce, trading between $651.50 and $669.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold declined 95 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,323.65 an ounce.
- Silver tumbled 44 cents, or 2.4%, to $19.16 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 Sates Mint bullion sales advanced on Tuesday for the first time this week. Gains included 4,500 ounces in gold coins and 645,000 ounces in silver coins.
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 / This Week | Last Week | Aug Sales | Sept Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 4,500 | 14,500 | 50,000 | 24,000 | 510,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 53,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 106,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 20,000 | 60,000 | 35,000 | 650,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,500 | 9,000 | 4,500 | 136,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 640,000 | 170,000 | 1,280,000 | 950,000 | 29,850,500 |
| 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 | 1,900 | 0 | 36,100 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins | 1,000 | 1,500 | 27,500 | 2,500 | 30,000 |
Like we said, gold is a risky proposition at this point in time, more so of ‘bullion’. The dealers must be getting really nervous.