Precious metals posted losses on Thursday that ranged from 1.5% for palladium to 2.6% for silver. Gold retreated from $1,900 an ounce and an almost five-month settlement high.
Gold for August delivery declined $36.60, or 1.9%, to end at $1,873.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold and silver prices are sharply lower in midday U.S. trading Thursday, on heavy profit-taking pressure and weak long liquidation in the futures markets. Gold prices hit a two-week low today and silver prices a three-week low. Strong gains in the U.S. dollar index today played a part in the metals markets’ sell off. Bulls can still argue today’s price action was normal corrective pullbacks in existing price uptrends for gold and silver," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,866.70 to a high of $1,912.30. They rose 0.3% on Wednesday, registering their highest settlement since Jan. 7, and they edged 0.02% lower in their start to the shortened-trading week on Tuesday.
Silver for July delivery dropped 72.7 cents to settle at $27.477 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $27.09 and $28.37. They gained 0.4% on Wednesday and they rose 0.3% on Tuesday.
In other precious metals futures on Thursday:
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July platinum fell $30.20, or 2.5%, to $1,162.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,149 to $1,197.70.
- Palladium for September delivery declined $42 to $2,826.60 an ounce, trading between $2,796 and $2,875.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Thursday.
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 / Week / June | Last Week | February Sales | March Sales | April Sales | May | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 121,000 | 55,500 | 38,500 | 20,500 | 426,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 9,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 0 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,000 | 0 | 0 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 13,000 | 16,000 | 33,500 | 11,000 | 44,000 | 166,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,191,500 | 4,087,000 | 1,053,000 | 0 | 13,106,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 13,600 | N/A | 35,000 | 0 | 40,000 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 50,000 | 2,900 | 52,900 |
