Palladium gained on Thursday while gold, silver and platinum declined. Gold ended the day at a seven-week low.
Gold for February delivery fell $21.60, 1.2%, to settle at $1,762.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Oct. 12 when gold ended at $1,759.30 an ounce.
"The near-term chart posture for the gold market is deteriorating now, and that has invited some technical-based sellers into the market. Also, weak-handed longs in the gold futures markets are being forced to liquidate their positions amid the recent sell off. A slumping crude oil market this week is also a negative for the metals markets," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,762.20 to a high of $1,785.20.
Silver for March delivery settled down 2.3 cents, or 0.1%, to $22.316 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since Sept. 30 when silver closed at $22.047 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $22.21 and $22.51.
In other precious metals prices on Thursday:
-
January platinum declined $2.10, or 0.2%, to $933.10 an ounce, ranging from $926.90 to $947.
- Palladium for March delivery tacked on $17.90, or 1%, to $1,771.40 an ounce, trading between $1,705 and $1,780.
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.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | October | November | December | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 24,000 | 21,500 | 135,500 | 116,500 | 2,000 | 1,067,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 0 | 94,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 22,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 160,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 85,000 | 40,000 | 0 | 490,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,500 | 5,500 | 41,000 | 39,500 | 1,000 | 341,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 448,000 | 1,076,000 | 1,447,000 | 0 | 28,198,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 | 8,700 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
