Gold futures settled lower Thursday for a fourth straight day while silver futures advanced for the first time in a week.
Gold for December delivery shed $2, or 0.2%, to end at $1,122.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close is the lowest since Aug. 18 when the metal settled at $1,116.90 an ounce.
"The 1,000-point drop in the Dow [intraday] on Monday and the extremely high stock-market volatility [this week] should have boosted the appeal of gold like the other safe-haven assets," Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at FOREX.com, told MarketWatch in an email. But "gold’s counter-intuitive price action this week strongly suggests that the metal is heading to significantly lower levels."
Gold prices traded from a low of $1,117 to a high of $1,128.50. They have declined 3.2% since ending on Friday at a six-week high.
Silver for September delivery bounced 38 cents, or 2.7%, to settle at $14.42 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $14.05 to $14.56. They have declined 5.8% since Friday.
In other precious metals futures on Thursday:
-
October platinum gained $25.80, or 2.6%, to $1,006 an ounce, trading between $982.70 and $1,009.10.
- Palladium for December delivery jumped $38.90, or 7.4%, to $567.90 an ounce, ranging from $531.95 to $568.85.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices declined. In comparing London bullion prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold fell $1.75, or 0.2%, to $1,119 an ounce.
- Silver lost 14 cents, or 1%, to $14.27 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are displayed on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight after the setting of the prices each day.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in August
United States Mint gold sales advanced 10,000 ounces, with American Gold Eagles up 9,000 ounces and American Gold Buffalos up 1,000 ounces. Gold coin gains on Tuesday alone more than doubled their prior accumulated increases during the month.
Sales of the Mint’s American Silver Eagles are muted until at least Monday. The agency set this week’s allocation of Silver Eagle to 812,500 coins. That level was reached on Tuesday.
Below is a listing of U.S. Mint bullion products with the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | This Week | July Sales | August Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 7,500 | 10,500 | 39,500 | 144,500 | 61,500 | 405,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 10,000 | 6,000 | 52,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 2,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 28,000 | 16,000 | 114,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 10,000 | 35,000 | 35,000 | 135,000 | 90,000 | 615,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 1,500 | 11,000 | 32,000 | 16,500 | 145,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 1,187,500 | 812,500 | 5,529,000 | 4,180,000 | 31,495,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | ||||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 42,000 | ||||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 10,000 | – | 45,000 | ||
