Precious metals futures advanced Tuesday. Session gains for gold, silver and platinum marked a third in a row.
Gold for December delivery settled up $8.80, or 0.8%, to $1,146.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close is the highest since Sept. 24 when prices rallied to $1,153.80 an ounce.
Gains in gold were supported, opined analysts, after the Commerce Department said the U.S. trade deficit swelled by 15.6% to $48.33 billion in August.
"Gold seemed to really take off after that U.S. trade deficit number jumped in August, so definitely the trade data is giving it some legs today," Fain Shaffer, the president of Infinity Trading Corp. in Indianapolis, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "There’s been a couple weak economic reports, and people are saying there’s maybe less likelihood of a rate increase in December."
Gold prices on the day ranged from a low of $1,134.50 to a high of $1,151. They tilted up less than 0.1% on Monday and tacked on 2.1% on Friday.
Silver for December delivery rose 28 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $15.98 an ounce. Silver prices traded from $15.57 to $16.09. They surged 2.9% on Monday after soaring 5.2% on Friday.
In PGM futures on Tuesday:
-
January platinum jumped $21.80, or 2.4%, to $934.70 an ounce, ranging from $913.50 to $944.
- Palladium for December delivery turned up $18.50, or 2.7%, to $707.70 an ounce, trading between $685.85 and $714.80.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices also advanced. In comparing their prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold rose $7.75, or 0.7%, to $1,147.50 an ounce.
- Silver gained 42 cents, or 2.8%, to $15.67 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 as of 3:37 p.m. ET. 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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Sept Sales | Oct Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 9,500 | 5,500 | 98,500 | 5,500 | 525,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 9,000 | 0 | 63,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 20,000 | 2,000 | 144,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 175,000 | 5,000 | 835,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 22,000 | 3,000 | 173,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 1,000,000 | 699,000 | 3,804,500 | 699,000 | 36,753,500 |
| 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 | 45,000 | N/A | 45,000 | – | 45,000 |
