Gold on Tuesday returned more than half of the gains from the previous day, as did other precious metals when the U.S. dollar firmed after the release of better-than-expected housing data.
Gold for December delivery lost $10.80, or 0.6%, to close at $1,723.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Intraday trading ranged from a low of $1,721.80 to a high of $1,736.00. Gold started the week higher by $19.70 or 1.2%.
"The gold market is reacting to the positive housing data, which turned the dollar positive," Reuters quoted Andrey Kryuchenkov, analyst with VTB Capital.
U.S. housing starts hit a more than four-year high in October, up 3.6% from September, according to the Commerce Department.
"Precious metals erased their gains on technical selling and as better-than-expected U.S. housing data led to a small bounce in the dollar," Marketwatch quoted Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at GFT Markets, in a note.
In other New York bullion futures:
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Silver for December delivery declined 25.9 cents, or 0.8%, to $32.93 an ounce, trading between $32.86 and $33.26. The white metal jumped 82 cents on Monday.
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Platinum for January delivery settled to $1,573.00 an ounce, falling $10.80 or 0.7%. Platinum moved between $1,569.80 and $1,585.80.
- Palladium for December delivery dropped $6.95, or 1.1%, to $638.35 an ounce, ranging from $635.45 to $644.00.
London Bullion Prices
Precious metals in London were mostly higher. In contrasting the latest PM Fix prices:
- Gold edged up $1.75, or 0.1%, to $1,732.25 an ounce,
- Silver advanced 52.0 cents, or 1.6%, to $33.19 an ounce,
- Platinum added $5.00, or 0.3%, to $1,577.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium dipped $2.00, or 0.3%, to $640.00 an ounce
US Bullion Coin Sales in November
Broader and better gains were seen Tuesday for U.S. Mint bullion coins. Every major type of coin advanced. The bureau’s distributors ordered 6,500 ounces of gold bullion coins and 80,000 ounces of silver bullion coins. In America the Beautiful five ounce sales, Denali bullion coins shot higher by 3,600 for 18,000 ounces in total.
The following table lists the newest daily, November and year-to-date bullion sales as published by the U.S. Mint.
| US Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Sales | November Sales | YTD 2012 | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coins | 5,000 | 58,000 | 522,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 66,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 70,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coins | 5,000 | 25,000 | 305,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coins | 1,000 | 9,000 | 116,500 |
| American Silver Eagle Coin | 62,000 | 2,359,500 | 31,307,500 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Sales | November Sales | All-Time Total | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,800 | 19,900 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,800 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 22,300 |
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 3,600 | 6,100 | 18,600 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 85,900 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 39,500 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 29,700 |
| TOTAL | 3,600 | 15,200 | 255,900 |
Bullion sales above are in the number of coins sold, not the amount of ounces.
