Gold Prices Decline in October, Silver Edges Higher for the Month

Gold futures declined on the final trading day of October, making for a bit heavier monthly loss — their second in a row. Other precious metals, however, scored at least modest monthly gains.

Gold for December delivery shed $7.20, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,270.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold "appears to have lost any risk-aversion premium for now and is thus completely at the mercy of the nuances of the U.S. bond and stock market, and by default the U.S. dollar," Reuters quoted Jeffrey Halley, a
senior market analyst with OANDA.

Gold futures lost 1.1% in October after falling 2.8% in September. The yellow metal rallied a combined 5.7% in the five months of straight gains prior to September. Gold is 10.3% higher so far this year.

Elsewhere, silver for December delivery dropped 15.4 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $16.693 an ounce. The close is the lowest since Oct. 5 when prices ended at $16.638 an ounce. Still, silver futures edged up 0.1% this month after tumbling 5.1% last month. They are 4.4% higher on the year to date.

In rounding out precious metals prices on Tuesday and for the month:

• January platinum slipped $3.10, or 0.3%, to $919.60 an ounce, but moved up 0.5% in October.

• Palladium for December delivery tacked on $16.50, or 1.7%, to $979.15 an ounce, for a 4.5% monthly increase.

Both metals are higher for the year so far with respective increases of 1.5% and 43.3%.

London Precious Metals Prices

London precious metals prices ended mixed on Tuesday and for the month. In comparing their levels from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:

• Gold declined $1.85, or 0.2%, to 1,270.15 an ounce.
• Silver rose 8.5 cents, or 0.5%, to $16.82 an ounce.
• Platinum fell $3, or 0.3%, to $915 an ounce.
• Palladium added $9, or 0.9%, to $977 an ounce.

In October, palladium surged 4.5% while the other LBMA prices registered losses of 1% for gold, 0.2% for silver, and 0.5% for platinum.

They have year-to-date gains totaling 9.6% for gold, 3.6% for silver, 0.9% for platinum and 44.5% for palladium.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017

Demand for United States Mint bullion products strengthened in October with more gold and silver coins sold than in September. Similar to other months in 2017, levels were lower against October 2016. In headline bullion coin comparisons:

• American Eagle gold coins advanced by 15,500 ounces in October, up 34.8% from the 11,500 ounces sold in September but down 86.6% from the 116,000 ounces delivered in October 2016. Year to date sales at 247,500 ounces are 69.4% lower than the 808,500 ounces moved during the first ten months of last year.

• American Eagle silver coins climbed by 1.04 million ounces in October, representing a 225% increase from the 320,000 ounces sold in September but a 72.8% decrease from the 3,825,000 ounces sold in October of last year. 2017 Silver Eagle sales at 16,938,500 are down by about half, 50.8%, from the 34,400,500 delivered in the January to October period of 2016.

• American Buffalo gold coins advanced by 7,000 ounces in October for a 366.7% increase over the 1,500 ounces sold in September and a 75.4% decline from the 28,500 ounces delivered in October 2016. Year to date sales at 83,500 ounces are 53% lower than the 177,500 ounces moved during the same months last year.

• Sales of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins remained muted for a second month in a row. They will climb around mid-November with the release commemorating Indiana’s George Rogers Clark National Historical Park. Five-ounce coin sales for the year so far at 575,000 ounces are 53.8% lower than the 1,245,500 ounces sold through the same ten months in 2016.

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.