Gold futures advanced for a second session in a row, posted their biggest gain in two weeks, and closed at their highest price in more than a week.
Gold for December delivery on Tuesday rose $9.40, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,356.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since Aug. 4, and the increase the biggest since Aug. 2.
The yellow metal alternated between losses and gains in choppy trading, finally closing higher as the U.S. dollar declined to its lowest level since June.
"The gold market is in the balance of long and short buyers. Both sides are waiting for more economic data to determine the trend," Reuters quoted Jiang Shu, chief analyst at Shandong Gold Group. "Most investors are not very aggressive as they are not certain about which road they should choose."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,344.80 to a high of $1,364.30. In the previous session, they climbed 0.3%.
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery added 2.7 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $19.874 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $19.71 and $20.12. They rose 0.7% on Monday.
In other precious metals trading:
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October platinum tacked on $7.80, or 0.7%, to $1,124.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,114.80 to $1,144.50.
- Palladium for September delivery settled up $12.85, or 1.9%, to $705.10 an ounce, trading between $690.20 and $706.85.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold rose $4.60, or 0.3%, to $1,344 an ounce.
- Silver added 13.5 cents, or 0.7%, to $20.04 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 as of 4:12 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion 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 | July Sales | Aug Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19,000 | 0 | 19,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 21,500 | 0 | 30,000 | 26,500 | 462,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 49,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 96,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 25,000 | 0 | 50,000 | 30,000 | 585,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,500 | 0 | 10,000 | 3,500 | 126,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 250,000 | 55,000 | 1,370,000 | 380,000 | 28,000,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 200 | 0 | 200 | 34,400 |
