Precious metals futures tumbled Thursday with gold posting the biggest loss in 13 months and silver falling the most in 19 months.
Gold for April delivery tumbled $31.30, or 2.4%, to end at $1,255.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The daily decline was the biggest since Dec. 19, 2013 when the yellow metal gave away $41.40. Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,252.10 to a high of $1,286.60.
"The market was expecting the Fed to be more dovish and was disappointed, and it seems that the bulls in gold and silver are exhausted," Bloomberg News quoted Mike Dragosits, a senior commodity strategist at TD Securities in Toronto. "At the moment, Europe seems calm, and there is really no reason for flight to safety."
"The short-term reaction to the Federal Reserve is all of a sudden people saying they could raise rates as soon as June. That’s what’s turned gold down here," Reuters quoted Bill O’Neill, co-founder of commodities investment firm LOGIC Advisors in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
Silver for March delivery plunged $1.32, or 7.3%, to close at $16.77 an ounce, the largest decline since June 20, 2013. The precious metal traded between $16.74 and $18.05.
In PGM futures on Thursday:
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April platinum plummeted $41.20, or 3.3%, to $1,217.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,212.80 to $1,258.60.
- Palladium for March delivery fell $24.70, or 3.1%, to $771.60 an ounce, trading between $767.45 and $796.40.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals moved lower as well. In comparing London bullion Fix prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold declined $19.25, or 1.5%, to $1,268.75 an ounce,
- Silver dropped 58 cents, or 3.2%, to $17.43 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $24, or 1.9%, to $1,233 an ounce, and
- Palladium dipped $1, or 0.1%, to $786 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in January
United States Mint bullion sales logged gains of 1,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 111,500 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
Gold Eagle sales at 81,000 ounces for the month so far are the highest since January 2014 sales of 91,500 ounces while Silver Eagle sales at 5.4 million are the highest since hitting 5,790,000 in October when the U.S. Mint was not rationing how many they sold.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Thursday, last week, this week so far, in December, last year, and the year to date. Coins with an asterisk (*) have sold out for 2014 with 2015-dated versions yet to be released.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | December Sales | 2014 Sales | January / 2015 Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,900 | 0 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 13,000 | 415,500 | 51,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46,000 | 18,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 118,000 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 10,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 35,000 | 565,000 | 115,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,500 | 177,500 | 34,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 111,500 | 1.059M | 639,500 | 2.459M | 44.006M | 5,400,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33,000 | 0 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 600 | 0 | 1,100 | 24,400 | 600 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22,000 | 0 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 22,000 | 0 |
| Everglades 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 34,000 | 0 |
