Gold futures on Thursday settled lower for a fifth session in a row. Silver and platinum also declined in their start to the new trading month, while palladium rallied by more than 4%.
Gold for December delivery dipped $1.50, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,113.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold ended the U.S. day session near steady in a choppy, two-sided trading day," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily report. "Short covering and position evening ahead of what is arguably the most important U.S. economic report of the month — the U.S. employment report from the Labor Department on Friday morning — were featured."
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,110.30 to a high of $1,118.50. On Thursday, gold ended September and the third quarter will losses of 1.5% and 4.8%.
Silver for December delivery fell less than a penny to settle at $14.51 an ounce. Silver prices traded between $14.43 and $14.67. The white metal dipped 0.5% in September.
In PGM futures on Thursday:
-
January platinum declined $3.90, or 0.4%, to $905.20 an ounce, ranging from $901.10 to $918.30.
- Palladium for December delivery surged $28.45, or 4.4%, to $679.40 an ounce, trading between $650.55 and $682.55.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices were mixed. In comparing their prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold added $5, or 0.5%, to $1,119 an ounce.
- Silver shed 10 cents, or 0.7%, to $14.55 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in October
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Thursday as of 3:40 p.m. Eastern Time.
Silver sales for the week ended on Tuesday with the week’s supply of American Silver Eagles taken and the new Bombay Hook America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins selling out.
Below is a listing of United States 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 | Sept Sales | Oct Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 12,500 | 9,500 | 98,500 | 0 | 520,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 9,000 | 0 | 63,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 20,000 | 0 | 142,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 55,000 | 10,000 | 175,000 | 0 | 830,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 2,500 | 22,000 | 0 | 170,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | – | 750,000 | 1,000,000 | 3,804,500 | 0 | 36,054,500 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | ||||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 42,000 | ||||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 45,000 | ||||
| 2015 Bombay Hook 5 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | N/A | 45,000 | 45,000 | – | 45,000 |
