Precious metals futures turned lower on Thursday as the U.S. dollar rebounded and oil prices declined.
Gold for February delivery lost $4.50, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,072 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Selling pressure was mostly due to crude oil prices dropping to a near seven-year low and a solid rebound in the U.S. dollar index, after strong losses seen by the index Wednesday," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Along with the bearish outside markets on this day, the overall bearish chart postures for both gold and silver markets are also keeping the sellers very confident."
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,068.80 to a high of $1,076. They rose 0.1% on Wednesday, inched up 10 cents on Tuesday and declined 0.8% on Monday. Prices are down 1.1% on the week.
Silver for March delivery shed 8 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $14.11 an ounce. Silver prices traded between $14.09 and $14.23. They gained 0.5% in the prior session.
In other precious metals futures Thursday:
-
January platinum declined $9.90, or 1.1%, to $855.90 an ounce, ranging from $848.60 to $863.10.
- Palladium for March delivery dropped $10.10, or 1.8%, to $542.25 an ounce, trading between $540.10 and $557.50.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices also declined. In comparing their levels from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold fell $10, or 0.9%, to $1,071 an ounce.
- Silver slipped a dime, or 0.7%, to $14.17 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 4:02 p.m. ET. On Wednesday, sales of 2015 American Silver Eagles landed at a fresh yearly record of 45,786,000 coins. The previous annual record was established last year at 44,006,000. That record was broken on Nov. 30.
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 | Nov Sales | Dec Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | N/A | 80,500 | N/A | 626,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 7,000 | 1,000 | 75,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | N/A | 12,000 | N/A | 158,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | N/A | 100,000 | N/A | 980,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 500 | 38,000 | 500 | 219,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 920,500 | 936,000 | 4,824,000 | 1,119,500 | 45,786,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | 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 | |||||
| 2015 Saratoga 5 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | 45,000 | N/A | 35,800 | 9,200 | 45,000 |
