Gold and silver futures eased for a second session in a row Thursday as the European Central Bank kept is stimulus program unchanged.
Gold for December delivery declined $7.60, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,341.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The pullback has everything to do with the ECB confirming the status quo as it pertains to [quantitative easing]," MarketWatch quoted Adam Koos, president of Libertas Wealth Management Group. "Adding insult to injury, Super Mario Draghi [the ECB’s president] rubbed salt in the wounds of stimulus hopefuls, saying that ‘expectations were again too high ahead of (the) decision’."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,339.10 to a high of $1,353.90. They dipped 0.4% on Wednesday after surging 2.1% on Tuesday to log their highest settlement since Aug. 18.
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery lost 17 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $19.678 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $19.63 and $20.02. They fell 1.4% in the previous session after soaring 4% on Tuesday, marking their best close since Aug. 10.
In other precious metals trading:
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October platinum fell $8.10, or 0.7%, to $1,084.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,082.80 to $1,100.60.
- Palladium for December delivery shed 50 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $687.85 an ounce, trading between $682.80 and $698.15.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold fell $4.95, or 0.4%, to $1,343.40 an ounce.
- Silver added a penny to $19.93 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 advances included 11,250 ounces in gold coins, with splits of 10,250 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 1,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Aug Sales | Sept Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 8,000 | 17,500 | 12,500 | 50,000 | 17,500 | 503,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 53,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 3,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 104,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 10,000 | 25,000 | 15,000 | 60,000 | 30,000 | 645,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 1,500 | 3,500 | 9,000 | 4,500 | 136,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 410,000 | 170,000 | 1,280,000 | 310,000 | 29,210,500 |
| 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 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,900 | 0 | 36,100 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 27,500 | 1,500 | 27,500 | 1,500 | 29,000 |
“US Mint Gold Sales Rise”
This is no surprise, given the Mint sold ~100,000 1/4 oz. coins today.
In other shocking news, all three of the major news outlets announced that the sky is blue.