Gold futures declined to a fresh five-month low on Tuesday. Further losses were suppressed by a weaker U.S. dollar.
Gold for February delivery tilted down $1.10, or less than 0.1%, to close at $1,220.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That is gold’s lowest settlement price since July 5. Gold traded from an intraday low of $1,214.60 to a high of $1,225.80. On Monday, the precious metal tumbled 2.3%.
"Despite a small short-covering rally today, gold is susceptible to further pullbacks. Right now a stronger crude market and lower dollar are the only things that keep gold higher," Reuters quoted Frank McGhee, head precious metals dealer at Chicago commodities brokerage Alliance Financial LLC.
Silver for March delivery closed down 22.4 cents, or 1.2%, to $19.07 an ounce, ranging from $18.98 to $19.34. Prices sank 3.7% in the prior session.
PGMs broke their downward trend Tuesday. In their closings:
-
January platinum added $9, or 0.7%, to $1,355.80 an ounce, trading between $1,341.10 and $1,359.20.
- Palladium for March delivery gained $1.40, or 0.2%, to $714.80 an ounce, ranging from $709.60 to $716.35.
London Fix Precious Metals
London bullion fixings declined for a second straight day. In contrasting the Monday PM to Tuesday PM London fix prices:
- Gold fell $12.25, or 1%, to $1,217.25 an ounce,
- Silver lost 58 cents, or 2.9%, to $19.17 an ounce,
- Platinum shed $12, or 0.9%, to $1,345 an ounce, and
- Palladium dipped $6, or 0.8%, to $711 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in December
Sales of the two most popular U.S. Mint bullion coins advanced Tuesday. The one-ounce American Eagle Gold rose 9,000 and the one-ounce American Silver Eagle climbed 110,500. Listed below are sales across all United States Mint bullion products.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | Week/Month To Date | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 9,000 | 13,000 | 9,000 | 699,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 118,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 520,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 232,000 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | Sold Out | 35,000 | ||
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27,100 |
| Great Basin 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28,600 |
| Fort McHenry 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | Sold Out | 30,000 | ||
| Mount Rushmore 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | Sold Out | 35,000 | ||
| American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 110,500 | 800,000 | 349,500 | 41,824,500 |
In numismatic coin news today, the uncirculated Gold Eagle sold out with sales around the 7,134 mark.
