Precious metals plunged on Tuesday, registering settlement lows ranging from over a week for gold and platinum to more than three-and-a-half years for palladium.
Gold for April delivery lost $34.60, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,820 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since ending at $1,817.10 an ounce on Feb. 24.
"With the shock of inflation and war in Europe now long faded as a reason to buy gold, the precious metal currently lacks an urgent driver to flip investor sentiment positive in the face of further Fed hikes to come,” Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault, told MarketWatch.
Gold futures traded between $1,817.40 and $1,856.90. They ended flat on Monday.
Silver for May delivery sank 93.6 cents, or 4.4%, to close at $20.199 an ounce. The finish was silver’s weakest since finishing at $19.43 an ounce on Nov. 3. Silver prices ranged from $20.10 to $21.22. They shed 0.5% on Monday.
In other precious metals prices on Tuesday:
-
April platinum fell $42.30, or 4.3%, to $936.30 an ounce, trading between $931 and $983.70. The settlement was the lowest since platinum ended at $907.90 an ounce on Feb. 24.
- Palladium for June delivery dropped $53.90, or 3.8%, to $1,370.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,362 to $1,439. The settlement was the lowest since palladium closed at $1,356 an ounce on June 7, 2019.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
Published 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) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | Last Week | January Sales | February | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 32,500 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 159,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 45,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 74,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 20,000 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 200,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 14,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 78,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 450,000 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 4,849,000 |
Everything dropped today. It’s profits for the sellers, bargain buys for the buyers.
Antonio, wouldn’t this more likely be a case of losses for the sellers who had to dump their holdings before they went any lower and nothing yet for the buyers who won’t be able to cash in until the precious metals go up again?
I can’t believe silver is just a few cents away from closing at $19.99 or below!
NumisdudeTX
Well, Seth, as the old time elevator operators used to say, “Going down.”
What is happening right now is so very strange and totally counterintuitive. Considering how what the dollar can buy is constantly dropping, interest rates are continuing to be raised and the stock market is in the midst of an unhealthy slide, precious metals should be in the process of gaining value rather than losing it. It’s almost as if some perfect storm of negativity has the American economy in its grip.
This article’s headline should be: “Silver Tanks Down 4.4% Today!”, especially since silver went down more than gold, platinum & palladium today.
NumisdudeTX
Silver, which is used to being the far and away least fancy of all the precious metals, has now effectively been sent to the poor house. As if we needed this sad development!
What I see are the silver numismatic products more or less holding their values while the values of bullion products fall with the declining spot price.
Exactly, Major D, and good for you for having held your ground while others of us questioned and quibbled when it came to the prices and values of numismatic coinage.
Silver price: $19.99 now, $19.91 around midnight…how low will it go??
NumisdudeTX
It seems, Seth, that Silver has switched “events”; from the high jump to the limbo.