Precious metals futures closed sharply lower on Tuesday. Gold and silver posted fresh one-month lows. Gold dropped the most, and extended its string of losing sessions to four in a row.
Gold for December delivery tumbled $21.80, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,114.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was the lowest since Oct. 1. Gold prices traded from a low of $1,113.60 to a high of $1,138. They lost 0.5% in the prior session.
Silver snapped its two-week riding streak of up and then down daily closings, but did so by falling for two straight. Silver for December delivery fell 17 cents, or 1.1%, to close at $15.24 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since Oct. 1 when the precious metal finished at $14.51 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $15.20 to $15.45. On Monday, they declined by 1%.
"The silver market is under pressure, along with gold, due to the new language introduced by the Fed last week," Bloomberg News quoted Bob Haberkorn, a senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago. "With the threat of a rate increase in the coming weeks, it will be pretty hard for silver and gold to rally."
In PGM futures on Tuesday:
-
January platinum turned down $16.20, or 1.7%, to $962.20 an ounce, trading between $960.40 and $984.40.
- Palladium for December delivery shed $6.35, or 1%, to $644 an ounce, ranging from $640 to $655.10.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices fell as well. In comparing their prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold declined $10.90, or 1%, to $1,123.10 an ounce.
- Silver dropped 25 cents, or 1.6%, to $15.38 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 advanced with 4,500 ounces in gold coins and 763,500 ounces in silver coins.
The U.S. Mint has limited sales of bullion American Silver Eagles since temporarily running out of them in early July. The agency allocated 1,187,000 coins for this week, and now 423,500 of those remain. Silver Eagle sales hit 40,606,000 for the year, up 5% through the same time in 2014. Last year when sales ended at an annual record totaling 44,006,000, the coins by Nov. 3, 2014 logged sales of 38,666,000.
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) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / November | Last Week | Oct Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 1,500 | 3,500 | 26,000 | 547,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 4,000 | 67,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 146,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 25,000 | 5,000 | 50,000 | 905,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 500 | 500 | 10,500 | 181,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 763,500 | 856,500 | 3,788,000 | 40,606,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | ||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 42,000 | ||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 45,000 | ||
| 2015 Bombay Hook 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | – | 45,000 | |
