Gold futures extended their losing streak on Thursday to seven straight sessions, and closed at a fresh, more than seven-week low.
Gold for June delivery slipped $3.40, or 0.3%, to end at $1,220.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since April 4 when the yellow metal ended at $1,219.30 an ounce.
"Price action earlier saw some short covering in the futures market and bargain hunters buying the dip in the cash market," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "However, gold prices started eroding when crude oil prices backed down from their session highs."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,220.10 to a high of $1,234.60. They are down 2.6% so far this week.
Higher for a second day in a row, silver for July delivery gained 8.2 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $16.343 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $16.25 to $16.58. They are still 1.1% lower on the week.
In other precious metals futures on Thursday:
-
July platinum added $1, or 0.1%, to $995.80 an ounce, trading between $992.10 and $1,011.60.
- Palladium for September delivery jumped $12.80, or 2.4%, to $543.65 an ounce, ranging from $531.60 to $547.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold added $3.25, or 0.3%, to $1,223.80 an ounce.
- Silver added 25.5 cents, or 1.6%, to $16.46 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 2016
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Thursday as of 3:02 p.m. ET, according to the agency’s website. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods of time.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Mar Sales | Apr Sales | May Sale | 2016 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 18,500 | 8,500 | 29,000 | 93,500 | 47,000 | 326,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 40,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 14,000 | 8,000 | 74,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 30,000 | 5,000 | 75,000 | 55,000 | 45,000 | 420,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 7,000 | 19,500 | 15,000 | 94,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 970,000 | 861,000 | 4,106,000 | 4,072,000 | 3,889,000 | 22,803,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 11,000 | 0 | 0 | 64,000 | 11,000 | 75,000 |
