Gold fell sharply Tuesday, closing to a more than 3.5-month low and posting its biggest one-day loss in 1.5 months.
Gold for February delivery declined $27.50, or 1.6%, to $1,670.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Trading occurred between pricing levels of $1,662.00 and $1,704.40. The loss was the largest for a day since November 2 when gold dived $40.30. The settlement price was the lowest since August 30 when gold closed at $1,657.10 an ounce.
"The gold market started to sell off in late-morning trading right about the time that U.S. House Speaker Boehner mentioned a ‘Plan B’ on the fiscal cliff negotiations. It was also about the time the soybean futures market dropped sharply on reports China had cancelled some previously booked U.S. soybean purchases — leading to some speculation of less demand for commodities coming from China," notes Jim Wyckoff in the PM Kitco Metals Roundup.
"However, both bits of news probably had no big impact on precious metals markets Tuesday. Fresh technically related selling pressure was the more likely culprit on the slide in gold and silver prices. Sell stops were triggered just below key near-term technical support levels in gold and silver…"
As for silver futures, March silver fell 61.1 cents, or 1.9%, to $31.669 an ounce. The white metal traded between $31.40 and $32.60. Silver most recently closed below $32 an ounce on November 7.
Platinum for January delivery settled at $1,593.70 an ounce, dropping $14.80, or 0.9%. Platinum ranged from a low of $1,590.00 to a high of $1,617.10.
March palladium lost $7.35, or 1.1%, to settle at $690.95 an ounce, trading between $688.00 and $703.95.
London Bullion Prices
Precious metals were mixed to unchanged in London. When comparing the most recent London PM fixings:
- Gold declined $1.75, or 0.1%, to $1,694.00 an ounce,
- Silver gained 17.0 cents, 0.5%, to $32.38 an ounce,
- Platinum added $5.00, or 0.3%, to $1,611.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium was the precious metal unchanged at $697.00 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in December
Sales of U.S. Mint bullion coins were limited to the one-ounce, 22-karat American Eagle gold coin. Its tally jumped 7,500 for a week-to-date total of 9,500, which is 500 more than the sales total from last week.
U.S. Mint bullion sales on the day, for the week-to-date, December and year-to-date follow.
| US Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | Dec Sales | YTD 2012 | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coins | 7,500 | 9,000 | 9,500 | 42,000 | 637,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 70,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 6,000 | 76,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 315,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 500 | 7,000 | 131,000 |
| American Eagle Silver Coin | N/A* | 500,000 | 232,000 | 1,635,000 | 33,742,500 |
*The United States on Monday, December 17, sold out of its inventory of 2012 American Eagle silver coins. The Mint will begin taking orders for 2012 American Eagle silver coins on January 7, 2013.
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | Dec Sales | All-Time Total | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 21,900 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25,400 |
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85,900 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39,500 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29,700 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 262,400 |
Coin sales figures shown above are in the number of coins sold. Calculate total ounces by using the bullion coin’s weight.
