Gold, silver and platinum extended their losing streaks to three consecutive days on Thursday and palladium fell for a fifth straight session.
Gold for August delivery lost $13.90, or 1.1%, to finish at $1,290.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Investors again focused on equities with the S&P 500 ending at a fresh record high.
"The safe-haven demand for gold is muted now as equities are gaining strength and there has been no significant worsening of tensions in the Middle East or Ukraine," Reuters quoted a trader in Hong Kong.
Gold prices on the day ranged from a low of $1,287.50 to a high of $1,305.60. They are down 1.4% on the week so far.
Silver for September delivery tumbled 58 cents, or 2.8%, to settle at $20.42 an ounce. Silver traded between $20.35 to $20.97. Prices are off 2.3% for the week.
In PGM futures on Thursday:
-
October platinum shed $13, or 0.9%, to $1,473.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,466.70 to $1,487.40.
- Palladium for September dipped $3.35, or 0.4%, to $870.95 an ounce, trading between $867.80 and $875.45.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals declined as well. In contrasting the London bullion fix prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold gave up $15.25, or 1.2%, to $1,292.75 an ounce,
- Silver turned down 9 cents, or 0.4%, to $20.84 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $17, or 1.1%, to $1,469 an ounce, and
- Palladium lost $5, or 0.6%, to $869 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in July
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:47 PM ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on 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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday 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 | 0 | 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 | 0 | 1,500 | 500 | 16,000 | 4,500 | 116,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 590,000 | 615,000 | 2,692,000 | 1,640,000 | 25,768,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 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 |
