Gold and silver prices were near unchanged Tuesday while palladium and platinum climbed for a second day in a row.
Gold for June delivery dipped $1, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $1,294.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold traded from a low of $1,289.10 to a high of $1,299. Gold prices advanced 0.6% in the prior session.
"The equity market continues to rise and the dollar’s strength is making gold less popular," Fain Shaffer, the president of Infinity Trading Corp. in Indianapolis, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "Some buyers, however, are picking up gold because of Ukraine."
Silver for July delivery rose less than a half cent to $19.55 an ounce. Prices ranged from $19.37 to $19.62. Silver rallied 2.2% on Monday.
In rounding out the precious metals complex:
-
July platinum added $14.10, or 1%, to $1,456 an ounce, trading between $1,435.60 and $1,461.90.
- Palladium for June delivery rose $8.55, or 1.1%, to $817.30 an ounce, trading between $802.05 and $818.65.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals moved in the same direction as bullion futures in New York. In contrasting the London fix precious metals prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold slipped $2.25, or 0.2%, to $1,296.50 an ounce,
- Silver declined 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $19.44 an ounce,
- Platinum added $13, or 0.9%, to $1,453 an ounce, and
- Palladium rose $7, or 0.9%, to $814 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales
Reported U.S. Mint bullion sales were muted on Monday but they advanced on Tuesday with overall gains of:
- 100 ounces in platinum coins,
- 5,000 ounces in gold coins, and
- 778,000 ounces in silver coins
American Silver Eagles leapt over 20 million for the year to land at 20,570,000. Last year when the annual Silver Eagle sales record was set at over 42.6 million, the coins had reached 19,210,000 by May 13, 2013.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Tuesday, last week, last month, the month so far, and the year-to-date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / Week-To-Date Sales | Sales Last Week | April Sales | May Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 100 | 600 | 1,200 | 700 | 11,900 |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 9,500 | 26,000 | 10,500 | 137,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 22,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 0 | 20,000 | 2,000 | 64,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 5,000 | 10,000 | 55,000 | 20,000 | 310,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 3,000 | 1,000 | 17,500 | 5,500 | 88,500 |
| $1 American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 778,000 | 1,151,500 | 3,569,500 | 3,122,000 | 20,570,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,500 | 10,600 | 3,500 | 26,500 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 15,200 | N/A | 15,200 | 15,200 |
