Precious metals futures ended mixed in their start to the new trading month on Thursday. Not a lot changed for gold. It retreated for the fifth time in six sessions, marking a fresh, almost 10-month low.
Gold for February delivery lost $4.50, or 0.4%, to close at $1,169.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since Feb. 5 when prices finished at $1,157.70 an ounce.
"The technical postures for both gold and silver markets remain solidly bearish," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Fundamentally, traders and investor optimism remain generally upbeat and that’s also negative for safe-haven gold."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,162.20 to a high of $1,178.40. In the previous session, they fell 1.4% to end November with a 7.8% loss — their worst monthly decline since June 2013.
Ending higher for the fourth time in five sessions, silver for March delivery added 2.4 cents, or nearly 0.2%, to settle at $16.506 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.30 and $16.68. They slipped 1.5% on Wednesday, driving their November loss to 7.4%.
In rounding out precious metals trading:
-
January platinum gained $1.40, or 0.2%, to $911.30 an ounce, ranging from $898.50 to $918.20.
- Palladium for March delivery tumbled $20.95, or 2.7%, to $751.70 an ounce, trading between $746.95 and $776.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold declined $16.25, or 1.4%, to $1,161.85 an ounce.
- Silver dropped 37 cents, or 2.2%, to $16.30 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 gold and silver sales were unchanged Thursday following sharp to strong gains in November. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of 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 | Nov Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | – | 20,000 | |||
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 25,500 | 29,000 | 129,000 | 794,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 7,000 | 71,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 18,000 | 150,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 20,000 | 105,000 | 885,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 6,500 | 29,500 | 207,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 690,000 | 175,000 | 3,061,000 | 37,461,500 |
| 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 | 1,200 | 0 | 1,500 | 38,000 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 6,000 | -2,000 | 6,600 | 39,200 |
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 6,000 | -3,000 | 27,800 | 27,800 |
