Gold prices closed at a three-week low Tuesday, extending a losing streak to three sessions.
Gold for June delivery settled down $7.40, or 0.6%, to $1,281.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The closing was the lowest since gold ended at $1,280 an ounce on April 1. Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,275.80 to a high of $1,293.10.
"There’s no doubt that the technical picture in gold looks very sloppy (in the short term), especially if key support between $1,277-$1,280 gives way," Reuters quoted INTL FCStone analyst Edward Meir. "Recent ETF outflows and questions about end-user Chinese demand in light of reports that a considerable tonnage of imports was being siphoned off into financing deals, is also weighing on prices."
Other precious metals were mixed. In their daily closings:
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Silver for May delivery added a penny to $19.36 an ounce. The white metal traded between $19.29 and $19.53.
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July platinum dipped 40 cents to $1,400.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,392.80 to $1,413.50.
- Palladium for June delivery gained $5.85, or 0.8%, to $783.65 an ounce, trading between $779 and $789.70.
London Fix Precious Metals
London markets reopened following a long break for Easter. In contrasting the London fix prices from Thursday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold lost $12.25, or 0.9%, to $1,286.75 an ounce,
- Silver fell 11 cents, or 0.6%, to $19.51 an ounce,
- Platinum dropped $34, or 2.4%, to $1,403 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $14, or 1.7%, to $787 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in March
U.S. Mint sales advanced across a wide selection of bullion coins. In ounces, overall sales of gold coins rose 3,000 while silver coins advanced 399,000.
In the notable column, bullion Silver Eagle coins topped 17.3 million in year-to-date sales. The series has been around since 1986 and sales have never been as high during the January through April 22 period. Tuesday is the first time that Silver Eagle sales surpassed those from last year which were at 17,291,000 on the 22nd.
Below is a sales breakdown for U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Tuesday, last week, this week so far, last month, the month-to-date, and this year so far.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Sales Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | March Sales | April Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 100 | 300 | 100 | 10,000 | 1,000 | 11,000 |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 1,500 | 7,500 | 1,500 | 16,000 | 21,000 | 121,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 18,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 20,000 | 62,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 5,000 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 30,000 | 35,000 | 275,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 500 | 3,000 | 500 | 12,000 | 13,500 | 79,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 399,000 | 1,085,000 | 1,090,500 | 5,354,000 | 3,519,000 | 17,398,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | N/A* | 7,400 | 600 | 12,400 | 10,600 | 23,000 |
*The U.S. Mint on Monday, April 21, said it temporarily sold out of Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins and that it would have additional inventory available in a few weeks.
