Precious metals futures declined Tuesday. Gold closed at its lowest level in more than two months, pressured as the U.S. dollar rallied following comments from Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer that raised prospects for a September rate increase.
Gold for December delivery declined $10.60, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,316.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since June 23 when gold ended at $1,263.10 an ounce.
"Fischer’s comments this morning made me raise my odds for a September rate hike," Bloomberg News quoted Marty McGuire, a managing director-market strategy at TJM Investments. "Gold is breaking down a little bit, and it’s been knocking around a trend line that dates from late June."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,314.90 to a high of $1,328.90. They inched up less than 0.1% in the prior session.
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery fell 18.6 cents, or 1%, to settle at $18.673 an ounce. The close is the lowest since Thursday. Silver futures traded between $18.64 and $19.04. On Monday, they gained 0.6%.
Rounding out metals trading:
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October platinum lost $24.50, or 2.3%, to $1,056.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,055.40 to $1,084.50.
- Palladium for December delivery declined $21.05, or 3%, to $678.20 an ounce, trading between $674.45 and $703.30.
London Precious Metals Prices
U.K. markets closed Monday for holiday. In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold dipped 60 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,318.15 an ounce.
- Silver added 11 cents, or 0.6%, to $18.78 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
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:20 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 | 1,000 | 0 | 19,000 | 1,000 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 9,500 | 30,000 | 47,000 | 483,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 51,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 4,000 | 100,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 50,000 | 60,000 | 615,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 1,500 | 10,000 | 9,000 | 131,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 430,000 | 270,000 | 1,370,000 | 1,280,000 | 28,900,500 |
| 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 | 500 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,900 | 36,100 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 500 | 27,500 | 0 | 27,500 | 27,500 |
Hope gold drops below 1300. That would take about 12 bucks off of the quarter gold coin.