Precious metals futures declined Tuesday. Losses in gold and silver were their third straight — and for gold, its sixth decline in seven sessions. Still worse, the yellow metal closed at its weakest price of the year to below the key $1,300 level.
Gold for June delivery dropped $27.90, or 2.1%, to settle at $1,290.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since Dec. 26, 2017.
"A trifecta of news, mostly economically positive, [were] all putting pressure on gold," MarketWatch quoted Jeff Wright, executive vice president at GoldMining Inc.
"Retail sales, Empire State numbers were good and add weight towards additional interest rate increases later in 2018," he said. "The latest boost in short-term interest rates is leading to further U.S. dollar strength which is also leading gold lower."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,288.20 to a high of $1,314.70. They shed 0.2% on Monday.
Silver for July delivery tumbled 37.6 cents, or 2.3%, to end at $16.269 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.20 to $16.57. They declined 0.5% on Monday
In rounding out precious metals futures:
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July platinum fell $17.70, or 1.9%, to $897.20 an ounce, trading between $896.10 and $913.80.
- Palladium for June delivery declined $12.50, or 1.3%, to $983.20 an ounce, ranging from $954.30 to $993.30.
London Precious Metals Prices
LBMA bullion prices are available on the LBMA website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. 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 | April | May | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,200 | 0 | 6,200 | 26,200 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 500 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 49,500 |
| $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 | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 105,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,500 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,500 | 35,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 50,000 | 100,000 | 915,000 | 150,000 | 6,157,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
