Precious metals futures were mixed Tuesday following two straight session gains before the U.S. Memorial Day holiday. Gold slipped from a 1-month high while silver advanced to a 5-week high.
Gold for August delivery declined $5.70, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,265.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"I expect the dollar to continue to strengthen this week until Friday’s jobs data release, therefore I think gold is going to go down from here," Reuters quoted Forex.com market analyst Fawad Razaqzada.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,261.80 to a high of $1,273.40. They climbed 1.2% last week, for their third straight weekly gain, and closed at their best price since April 28.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery gained 10.4 cents, or 0.6%, to end at $17.427 an ounce. The settlement is the highest since April 25. Silver futures traded between $17.20 and $17.46. They surged last week by 3.1%.
In other precious metals futures on Tuesday:
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July platinum dropped $21.80, or 2.3%, to close at $941.10 an ounce, ranging from $939.80 to $964.80.
- Palladium for June delivery gained $15.95, or 2%, to settle at $802.65 an ounce, trading between $788.45 and $804.80.
Last week, the two metals posted increases of 2.4% and 3.4%.
London Precious Metals Prices
UK markets were closed Monday for Spring Bank holiday. In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold shed $2.35, or 0.2%, to $1,262.70 an ounce.
- Silver dipped 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $17.27 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, London metal prices advanced by 1% for gold, 3.1% for silver, 1.9% for platinum and 1.3% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
U.S. Mint bullion products logged increases of 1,000 ounces in gold coins and 200,100 ounces in silver coins. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. 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 / This Week | Last Week | April Sales | May Sales | 2017 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 3,500 | 3,500 | 10,000 | 137,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 30,000 | 240,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 0 | 3,500 | 5,000 | 64,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 200,000 | 595,000 | 835,000 | 2,355,000 | 11,147,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 100 | 4,600 | 900 | 5,600 | 26,200 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 17,600 | 2,400 | 20,000 |
This article was edited to include updated U.S. Mint bullion figures.
