Gold slipped to below $1,300 an ounce Tuesday with demand dipping on a stronger U.S. dollar.
Gold for August delivery settled down $5, or 0.4%, to $1,298.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices ended a choppy, two-sided trading session modestly lower Tuesday. Some safe-haven demand was featured early on as there was a bit more risk aversion in the market place," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "However, prices sold off at mid-morning partly due to bearish outside market forces that included a stronger U.S. dollar index and lower crude oil prices."
In a higher-volume trading day, gold moved through an intraday range of $1,295.50 to $1,312.10. Gold prices were flat on Monday.
Silver for September delivery inched up 2 cents, or less than 0.1%, to close at $20.58 an ounce. Silver prices traded from $20.51 to $20.85. They retreated 0.3% during the prior session.
In other precious metals futures on Tuesday:
-
October platinum lost $6.10, or 0.4%, to $1,484.50 an ounce, trading between $1,480.90 and $1,493.20. Prices advanced 0.8% on Monday.
- Palladium for September declined $2.45, or 0.3%, to $878.30 an ounce, ranging between $878.10 and $886.80. Palladium climbed 0.1% in the previous session.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were mixed to flat. In contrasting the London bullion fix prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold fell $5.25, or 0.4%, to $1,299.25 an ounce,
- Silver rose a penny to $20.64 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $1, or 0.1%, to $1,485 an ounce, and
- Palladium was unchanged at $884 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in July
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:38 PM ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold 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 | 0 | 3,000 | 1,500 | 43,000 | 26,000 | 224,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 78,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 35,000 | 25,000 | 385,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 1,500 | 0 | 16,000 | 5,500 | 117,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 615,000 | 25,000 | 2,692,000 | 1,665,000 | 25,793,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 0 | 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 | 0 | 0 | 18,500 | 1,500 | 20,000 |
