Gold futures declined for the eighth time in nine sessions Thursday, closing at a 5-1/2-month low, yet are down by a relatively modest 0.6% week to date.
Gold for December delivery shed $7, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,216.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since June 2.
"The release of several U.S. economic reports that were mostly stronger than expected and a resulting surge in the U.S. dollar index to a 13-year high pressured the gold and silver markets today," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,210.50 to a high of $1,231.10. They dipped less than 0.1% on Wednesday after edging 0.2% higher on Tuesday. Gold logged its last about 5-1/2-month low on Monday.
Lower for the fourth time in five sessions, silver for December delivery declined 15.5 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $16.772 an ounce. The close is the weakest since June 7. Silver futures traded between $16.62 and $17.08. They also last settled higher on Tuesday, climbing 0.9%.
In other precious metals trading:
-
January platinum lost $1.40, or 0.2%, to $945.10 an ounce, ranging from $933.80 to $952.90.
- Palladium for December delivery tacked on $10.85, or 1.5%, to $729.65 an ounce, trading between $711.35 and $734.10.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold declined $2.45, or 0.2%, to $1,226.75 an ounce.
- Silver added 9 cents, or 0.5%, to $17.04 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 sales registered a daily advance of 6,000 ounces in American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins and 150,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
Silver sales so far this week at 1,537,000 ounces are higher than any week since January.
Week to date gold sales at 50,500 ounces are the best for a week since the one ended Oct. 7. An increase of more than 3,000 ounces on Friday would make weekly sales the highest since January.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion coins 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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Oct Sales | Nov Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | – | 20,000 | ||||
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 2,500 | 19,000 | 33,500 | 100,500 | 69,000 | 734,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 5,000 | 69,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 2,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 16,000 | 12,000 | 144,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 5,000 | 25,000 | 50,000 | 75,000 | 80,000 | 855,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 2,000 | 4,000 | 11,000 | 28,500 | 19,500 | 197,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 150,000 | 425,000 | 1,400,000 | 3,825,000 | 2,045,000 | 36,445,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 105,000 | ||||
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 75,000 | ||||
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 300 | 200 | 300 | 36,800 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,300 | 3,100 | 2,600 | 35,200 |
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 24,800 | 3,100 | 24,800 | 24,800 |
