Precious metals ended lower on Tuesday, led by palladium which fell 7.2%. Silver and platinum logged about two-year settlement lows. Gold, meanwhile, ended the day at its lowest price in nine-and-a-half months.
Gold for August delivery shed $6.90, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,724.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The finish was the lowest since Sept. 29 when gold ended at $1,722.90 an ounce.
"The U.S. dollar index continues its assault on the major world currencies and that remains a main bearish element punishing the metals markets. Also, big losses in crude oil prices today hurt the precious metals market bulls,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,721.60 and $1,742.20. They dipped 0.6% on Monday
Registering a second loss following three straight gains, silver for September delivery gave back 17.4 cents, or 0.9%, to end at $18.958 an ounce. The close was the lowest since silver settled at $18.699 an ounce on July 7, 2020. Silver futures ranged from $18.63 and $19.14. They declined 0.5% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures Tuesday:
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October platinum dropped $32.60, or 3.8%, to $828.10 an ounce, trading between $827.10 and $859. The settlement was the weakest since ending at $809.60 an ounce on June 26, 2020.
- Following three consecutive sessions gains, including two soaring ones, palladium for September delivery tumbled $156 to $2,015.60 an ounce, ranging from $2,009 to $2,143.50.
Last week platinum gained 1.3% while palladium rallied 11.3%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged on Tuesday. 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) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | May | June | Last Week / July | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 164,500 | 31,000 | 15,000 | 641,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 68,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 130,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 50,000 | 135,000 | 5,000 | 510,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 56,000 | 21,500 | 9,000 | 268,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,350,000 | 925,000 | 0 | 10,706,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 23,500 | 14,000 | 77,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
