Precious metals futures on Tuesday ended in opposite directions from Monday, with gold, silver and platinum lower and palladium higher. Gold’s loss was its first in five sessions.
Gold for April delivery declined $13, or 1%, to settle at $1,342 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"It’s not just the dollar — gold’s falling against all major currencies as global stock markets rebound further from last week’s slump," MarketWatch quoted Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault, told MarketWatch.
"Because gold acts as investment insurance across longer periods, it’s no surprise to see recent buyers taking profits," he said.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,339.60 to a high of $1,356.80. They gained 0.4% on Monday to end at their best level since Feb. 16.
Meanwhile, silver for May delivery lost 14.3 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $16.541 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.46 to $16.81. They rose 0.6% on Monday.
In rounding out precious metals futures prices:
-
April platinum shed $3.70, or 0.4%, to $946.70 an ounce, trading between $939.20 and $961.60.
- Palladium for June delivery added $4.95, or 0.5%, to $971.80 an ounce, ranging from $967.30 to $978.85.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold declined $10.95, or 0.8%, to $1,341.45 an ounce.
- Silver rose 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $16.64 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 2:55 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Last Week | This Week | February | March | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 2,500 | 43,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 95,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,500 | 1,000 | 27,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 195,000 | 285,000 | 942,500 | 915,000 | 5,092,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 |
Not to worry. In this case, the reverse of the old adage is true; what goes down must go up.
Old Collector