Gold and silver futures snapped a four-session winning streak Thursday. Platinum, meanwhile, advanced for a fifth session in a row.
Gold for December delivery slipped $4.40, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,144.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Due to the complexity of understanding its physical demand and supply aspects, let alone obtaining credible data on the metal, most speculative market participants are continuing to use the dollar as a gauge for the direction of gold’s short-term price outlook," MarketWatch quoted Fawad Razaqzada, analyst at Forex.com.
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,135.90 to a high of $1,150.90. They rose 0.2% on Wednesday, gained 0.8% on Tuesday, edged up 0.1% on Monday and surged 2.1% on Friday. The settlement price on Wednesday was the strongest since Sept. 24.
Silver for December delivery declined 33 cents, or 2%, to close at $15.77 an ounce. Silver prices traded from $15.38 to $16.08. They climbed 0.7% on Wednesday, gained 1.6% on Tuesday, jumped 2.9% on Monday and soared 5.2% on Friday. On Wednesday, silver futures closed at their highest level since June 22.
In PGM futures on Thursday:
-
January platinum added $9.20, or 1%, to $955.60 an ounce, ranging from $933.30 to $958.70.
- Palladium for December delivery gained $3.65, or 0.5%, to $703.15 an ounce, trading between $686.70 and $709.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices also declined. In comparing their prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold dipped $4.60, or 0.4%, to $1,140 an ounce.
- Silver fell 21 cents, or 1.3%, to $15.61 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
American Silver Eagles advanced by 79,500. The U.S. Mint has limited sales of the bullion coins since temporarily running out of them in early July. The agency allocated 1,075,000 coins for this week. All of them are now claimed. Sales for the year hit 37,129,500 coins — a record pace, up 7.6% through the same time in 2014. Last year when sales ended at an annual record totaling 44,006,000, the coins by Oct. 8 reached sales of 34,501,000.
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 / Oct | Sept Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 9,500 | 13,500 | 98,500 | 533,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 9,000 | 65,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 20,000 | 146,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 175,000 | 850,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 7,000 | 22,000 | 177,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 79,500 | 1,000,000 | 1,075,000 | 3,804,500 | 37,129,500 |
| 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 |
