Precious metals futures declined in tandem for a second straight day Thursday. Gold and silver extended their loses to four in a row, and the yellow metal ended at another fresh low for the year.
Gold for August delivery shed $5.10, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,251 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since Dec. 13 when gold finished at $1,248.60 an ounce.
"There’s just too much pressure on gold. Until we see spike in inflation or fall in the dollar, I think we’ll continue to see pressure on the price of gold," Reuters quoted Chris Gaffney, president of world markets at TIAA Bank.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,249.60 to a high of $1,255.80. They lost 0.3% on Wednesday, declined 0.7% on Tuesday, and dipped 0.1% on Monday.
Silver for September delivery — the new, most active contract — slipped 19.6 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $16.041 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.96 and $16.19. They declined 0.6% on Wednesday, fell 0.5% on Tuesday, and lost 0.8% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures on Thursday:
-
October platinum declined $6.80, or 0.8%, to $855.20 an ounce, ranging from $849.50 to $862.70.
- Palladium for September delivery fell $13, or 1.4%, to $930.90 an ounce, trading between $927.40 and $948.80.
London Precious Metals Prices
LBMA bullion prices are available on the LBMA website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | May | June | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,500 | 18,500 | 16,500 | 82,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 17,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 18,000 | 4,000 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 125,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 16,500 | 6,000 | 53,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 215,000 | 95,000 | 380,000 | 435,000 | 6,822,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Voyageurs 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 28,900 | 1,100 | 0 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
