Precious metals futures settled lower as a group for a second straight session Wednesday. Gold ended at a more than one-week low.
Gold for August delivery fell $11, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,244.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The finish is the lowest since July 2.
"The escalation in U.S.-China trade dispute put a sizable dent into all of the metal commodity prices overnight," Jeff Wright, executive vice president at GoldMining Inc., told MarketWatch. "Gold is getting pulled down the broader sell off in copper and zinc."
Late Tuesday, the White House announced a list of tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,242.50 to a high of $1,257.30. They shed 0.3% on Tuesday and rose 0.3% on Monday to mark their best close since June 26.
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery dropped 27 cents, or 1.7%, to end at $15.817 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $15.80 to $16.11. They declined 0.3% on Tuesday and climbed 0.4% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
October platinum fell $11.20, or 1.3%, to $835 an ounce, trading between $831.80 and $851.40.
- Palladium for September delivery dipped 60 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $937 an ounce, ranging from $928.70 to $939.30.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $2.60, or 0.2%, to 1,251.40 an ounce.
- Silver slipped 1.5 cents, or nearly 0.1%, to $15.915 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
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) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | May | June | July | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,500 | 500 | 18,500 | 21,500 | 7,000 | 94,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 18,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 125,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,500 | 500 | 16,500 | 6,500 | 6,000 | 59,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 75,000 | 240,000 | 380,000 | 435,000 | 315,000 | 7,137,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Voyageurs 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
