Precious metals futures were little changed Tuesday. Platinum and palladium ended higher. Gold and silver settled lower after hitting about two-week highs on Monday.
Gold for February delivery shed $1.30, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,264.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold and silver prices were ending the U.S. day session modestly lower Tuesday, on downside corrections and chart consolidation after their recent rallies," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "The U.S. dollar index had also recovered some of its earlier losses in midday trading, which was a mildly bearish element for the precious metals markets."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,263.30 to a high of $1,268.60. They rose 0.6% on Monday, ending at their highest level since Dec. 6.
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery declined 5.2 cents, or 0.3%, to close at $16.153 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.14 to $16.22. They rose 0.9% on Monday to settle at their highest price since Dec. 4.
In other precious metals prices:
-
January platinum edged up 90 cents, or 0.1%, to $914.10 an ounce, trading between $904.90 and $917.60.
- Palladium for March delivery tacked on $6.55, or 0.7%, to $1,018.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,010.40 to $1,016.75.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold dipped 25 cents, or less than 0.1%, to 1,260.35 an ounce.
- Silver added 6.5 cents, or 0.4%, to $16.155 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 2:22 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. 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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Last Week | This Week | November | December | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 28,000 | 7,500 | 9,500 | 35,500 | 226,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 37,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 64,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 395,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,500 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 13,500 | 99,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 622,000 | 0 | 385,000 | 742,000 | 18,065,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
| 2017 George Rogers Clark 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32,400 | 0 | 32,400 |
