Most precious metals futures closed lower in their start to the new trading month on Thursday, with gold sliding from a five-week high.
Gold for August delivery shed $5.30, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,270.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices ended the U.S. day session lower Thursday, on profit-taking from recent gains that saw prices hit a four-week high Wednesday," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "The U.S. ADP jobs report that was a big miss to the upside today was also bearish for the precious metals markets. The U.S. dollar index was also higher Thursday, and that was a daily negative for the metals."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,263.70 to a high of $1,272.80. In the previous session, they advanced 0.8%, marking their highest close since April 24 and ending the month of May with a 0.6% increase.
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery lost 12.5 cents, or 0.7%, to finish at $17.281 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.99 and $17.37. On Wednesday, they edged 0.1% lower to trim their June gain to 0.8%. On Tuesday, they settled at their best level since April 25.
In other precious metals futures Thursday:
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July platinum fell $21.30, or 2.2%, to $929 an ounce, ranging from $925.50 to $951.30.
- Palladium for June delivery added $7.15, or 0.9%, to $823.10 an ounce, trading between $809.05 and $825.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold dipped $1.35, or 0.1%, to $1,264.85 an ounce.
- Silver declined 18 cents, or 1%, to $17.13 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged. 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) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday / June | Last Week | This Week | May | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,500 | 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 | 0 | 2,000 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 240,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 500 | 5,000 | 64,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 595,000 | 300,000 | 2,455,000 | 11,247,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 4,600 | 100 | 5,600 | 26,200 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,400 | 20,000 |
