Gold futures ended lower Tuesday — as the U.S. dollar touched a 14-year high, taking away a good part of gains from the previous two sessions.
Gold for February delivery declined $9.10, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,133.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Chair of the Fed Yellen yesterday reinforced Fed rate hike plans and headwinds persist for gold holders for now," Reuters quoted George Gero, managing director at RBC Wealth Management. "It’s all about the dollar as usual; also higher bond yields are not only anti-inflationary but competitive to gold holders."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,127.30 to high of $1,141.70. They advanced 0.5% in the previous session and 0.7% on Friday. The day before, Thursday, prices settled at $1,129.80 an ounce to mark their lowest close since Feb. 2.
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery tacked on 2.8 cents, or 0.2%, to $16.117 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.67 and $16.14. They slipped 0.8% in their start to the new trading week on Monday.
In rounding out precious metals trading:
-
January platinum added $6.70, or 0.7%, to $924 an ounce, ranging from $901.30 to $924.40.
- Palladium for March delivery fell $7.85, or 1.2%, to $670.85 an ounce, trading between $663.45 and $680.80.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold fell $10.55, or 0.9%, to $1,125.70 an ounce.
- Silver declined 20 cents, or 1.3%, to $15.80 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 3:32 p.m. ET. The Mint’s most popular 2016-dated bullion coins have sold out. New 2017-dated issues will go on sale Jan. 9.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of 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 | Nov Sales | Dec Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | – | 20,000 | ||||
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins* | – | 129,000 | 23,000 | 817,500 | ||
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 7,000 | 3,000 | 74,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins* | – | 18,000 | 2,000 | 152,000 | ||
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins* | – | 105,000 | 40,000 | 925,000 | ||
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,500 | 2,500 | 29,500 | 12,500 | 219,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 3,061,000 | 240,000 | 37,701,500 | ||
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 105,000 | ||||
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 75,000 | ||||
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 100 | 38,100 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 6,600 | 800 | 40,000 | ||
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27,800 | 0 | 27,800 |
