Prices of precious metals declined together for a second day on Tuesday, with a 2.2% drop in palladium leading the way. Gold and silver both marked their lowest settlements in nearly four weeks.
Falling for a third consecutive session, gold for February delivery edged down by 50 cents to end at $2,033 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For a second day, the settlement was the lowest since Dec. 13.
"Technically, February gold futures bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note. "Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $2,100.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $2,000."
Gold futures traded between $2,031.90 and $2,048.60. They shed 0.8% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery fell by 21.9 cents, or 0.9%, closing at $23.091 an ounce. Like for gold, the settlement was silver’s lowest since Dec. 13. Silver futures ranged from $23.08 to $23.57. On Monday, they dipped by a half cent.
In other precious metals prices on Tuesday:
-
April platinum declined by $15.90, or 1.7%, to $943.50 an ounce, trading between $940.70 and $963.70.
- Palladium for March delivery fell by $21.80 to $976.90 an ounce, ranging from $972.50 to $1,015.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
On Tuesday, for the first time this week, the U.S. Mint reported bullion sales gains, including 16,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 850,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 9,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | Last Week | October | November | December | 2023 Sales | January | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 12,500 | 39,500 | 97,000 | 40,000 | 15,000 | 924,000 | 52,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 17,000 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 102,000 | 21,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 6,000 | 30,000 | 18,000 | 16,000 | 0 | 198,000 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 5,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 55,000 | 15,000 | 675,000 | 45,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 9,000 | 23,000 | 36,500 | 14,000 | 5,500 | 387,000 | 32,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 850,000 | 3,179,000 | 3,938,000 | 2,378,000 | 525,000 | 24,750,000 | 4,029,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 | 0 |
