Silver traded about flat Tuesday while gold, platinum and palladium logged mostly modest declines.
Gold for August delivery shed $7.60, or 0.6%, to finish at $1,306.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,302.20 to a high of $1,316.80.
"Gold prices ended the U.S. day session moderately lower Tuesday, on some profit-taking by the shorter-term traders and on some technical chart consolidation," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "A firmer U.S. dollar index Tuesday, in which prices hit a five-week high, was also bearish for the precious metals markets. Less risk aversion in the market place Tuesday was also a bit negative for safe-haven gold."
Gold rose in the prior session by $4.50, or 0.3%.
Silver for September delivery was pretty much flat, dipping less than a half penny to $21.01 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $20.79 to $21.12.
In other precious metals futures:
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October platinum lost $5.10, or 0.3%, to $1,488.30 an ounce, trading between $1,484.30 and $1,494.70.
- Palladium for September delivery slipped $2.30, or 0.3%, to $874.85 an ounce, ranging from $866.50 to $877.55.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were lower as well. In contrasting the London bullion fix prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold turned down $1.25, or 0.1%, to $1,310.25 an ounce,
- Silver fell 12 cents, or 0.6%, to $20.81 an ounce,
- Platinum dropped $7, or 0.5%, to $1,487 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $12, or 1.4%, to $872 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in July
United States Mint bullion sales advanced on Tuesday by 2,500 ounces in gold coins and by 292,500 ounces in silver coins. Below is a sales breakdown of 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 the year to date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Sales Last Week | Current Sales Week | June Sales | July Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 700 | 0 | 12,900 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 2,000 | 10,500 | 3,000 | 43,000 | 24,500 | 223,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 78,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 15,000 | 5,000 | 35,000 | 25,000 | 385,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 500 | 1,500 | 500 | 16,000 | 4,500 | 116,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 290,000 | 590,000 | 615,000 | 2,692,000 | 1,640,000 | 25,768,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 500 | 0 | 500 | 2,000 | 500 | 29,500 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 900 | 0 | 20,000 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 18,500 | 1,500 | 20,000 |
