Gold settled lower on Tuesday for a fifth straight session, though barely, ahead of the Federal Reserve’s completion of its two-day policy meeting to decide on interest rates.
Gold for August delivery dipped 30 cents, or about 0.02%, to settle at $1,268.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"There have been no major, fresh developments recently to give the safe-haven metal additional support," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "This has allowed the shorter-term futures traders to put downside pressure on the market via profit taking and the liquidation of weak long positions."
Investors are already looking toward the Fed’s policy statement due out Wednesday at 2 p.m. ET.
"The Federal Reserve is expected by many to slightly raise U.S. interest rates. Traders and investors are also keen to see if the Fed acts to further reduce its big balance sheet of government securities. Trading in markets could be volatile" after the statement, Wyckoff added.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,260.50 to a high of $1,270.50. They slipped by 0.2% in their start to the week on Monday. It was just last week Tuesday when gold settled at its highest price since Nov. 4.
Also down for a fifth session, silver for July delivery fell 17.7 cents, or 1%, to settle at $16.767 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.70 and $16.96. They declined 1.6% in the previous session.
In rounding out precious metals futures trading:
-
July platinum lost $20.30, or 2.2%, to $924.20 an ounce, ranging from $922.80 to $948.
- Palladium for September delivery declined $6.70, or 0.8%, to $857.55 an ounce, trading between $855.40 and $876.35. In the prior session, palladium ended at its best price since September 2014.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold lost $4.40, or 0.4%, to $1,262 an ounce.
- Silver dropped 31 cents, or 1.8%, to $16.82 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 products registered their first gains this week with gold coins rising by 1,000 ounces and silver coins advancing by 221,500 ounces. 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 | May | June | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 1,000 | 138,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 30,000 | 5,000 | 245,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 5,000 | 500 | 64,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 205,000 | 229,000 | 2,455,000 | 434,000 | 11,681,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 500 | 2,000 | 5,600 | 2,500 | 28,700 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,400 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 2,800 | 17,200 | N/A/ | 20,000 | 20,000 |
