Precious metals futures declined Thursday as the U.S. dollar rose slightly on remarks by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen. Losses in gold and silver were their first in four days.
Gold for August delivery shed $1.80, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,217.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The main takeaway for gold investors should be Yellen’s continuous focus on ‘gradual’ rate hikes and balance sheet reductions, and this could be interpreted as fewer rate hikes with more time in between hikes than originally expected," MarketWatch quoted Nico Pantelis, head of research at Secular Investor.
Yellen spent a second day providing her semi-annual monetary policy testimony to lawmakers.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,215.60 to a high of $1,223.60. They gained 0.4% in the previous session, inched up 0.1% on Tuesday, and climbed 0.3% in their start to the trading week on Monday. On Friday, they settled at their lowest point since March 15.
Silver for September delivery lost 19.6 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $15.691 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.66 and $15.96. They advanced 0.9% on Wednesday, moved up 0.7% on Tuesday, and rose 1.3% on Monday. Silver prices on Friday ended at their worst level since April 8, 2016.
In other precious metals futures on Thursday:
-
October platinum declined $11.90, or 1.3%, to $907.10 an ounce, ranging from $906.70 to $922.90.
- Palladium for September fell $6.80, or 0.8%, to $854.75 an ounce, trading between $851.10 and $870.75.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold added 10 cents to 1,218.90 an ounce.
- Silver gained 12 cents, or 0.8%, to $15.95 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 | Last Week | This Week | June | July | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 5,500 | 4,000 | 7,000 | 148,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 52,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 25,000 | 285,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 2,000 | 2,500 | 68,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 320,000 | 970,000 | 986,000 | 1,290,000 | 13,523,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,800 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
