Precious metals futures were mixed Tuesday with palladium higher and gold, silver and platinum lower.
Gold for June delivery slipped $5.90, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,255.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold is taking a breather once again; it’s struggling to make it out of this $1,245-$1,265 range," Reuters quoted Ole Hansen, head of commodities strategy at Saxo Bank. "Unless we get other developing (political risk) stories, the market is not prepared to break this range until further guidance from the Federal Open Market Committee."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,252.10 to a high of $1,263.80. They climbed 0.6% on Monday to close at their highest price since April 28.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery dipped 5.2 cents, or 0.3%, to finish at $17.139 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $17.03 and $17.31. They gained 2.4% in the previous session to also settle at their best level since April 28.
In other precious metals futures prices on Tuesday:
-
July platinum fell 90 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $949.40 an ounce, ranging from $944.60 and $959.40.
- Palladium for June delivery gained $13.25, or 1.8%, to $772.35 an ounce, trading between $765.80 and $776.80.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold added $1.35, or 0.1%, to $1,260.20 an ounce.
- Silver added 19 cents, or 1.1%, to $17.14 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
U.S. Mint bullion products logged their first sales gains of the week with gold coins up by 4,000 ounces and silver coins up by 458,000 ounces.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | Last Week | April Sales | May Sales | 2017 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 3,000 | 3,000 | 3,500 | 9,000 | 136,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 26,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 0 | 20,000 | 30,000 | 240,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 3,500 | 4,500 | 63,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 445,000 | 505,000 | 835,000 | 2,005,000 | 10,797,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 2,600 | 300 | 900 | 3,500 | 24,100 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 17,600 | 2,400 | 20,000 |
