Gold and silver futures settled lower Thursday for a third straight session, logging one-week lows, after scoring about two-week highs on Monday.
Gold for December delivery lost $6.50, or 0.5%, to finish at $1,205 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the weakest since last Thursday, Aug. 23.
"Although we have quite a high conviction for higher prices in the medium and long term, we see a little bit of a challenge in the short term as long as the dollar remains strong," Reuters quoted analyst Carsten Menke at Julius Baer.
"You have to be cautious if you want to see higher gold prices, but we believe the bottom is here. From an investment point of view, it’s really about averaging into the market, not just doing it all at once."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,202.10 to a high of $1,214. They declined 02% on Wednesday, shed 0.1% on Tuesday, and rose 0.2% on Monday — marking their best settlement since Aug. 10.
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery — the new, most active contract, declined 21.6 cents, or 1.5%, to settle at $14.594 an ounce. Like for gold, the close is the lowest since Thursday, Aug. 23.
Silver futures traded between $14.54 and $14.83. They lost 0.5% on Wednesday, fell 0.6% on Tuesday, and climbed 0.4% on Monday — posting their best close since Aug. 14.
In other precious metals futures prices on Thursday:
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October platinum fell $4.80, or 0.6%, to $791.80 an ounce, ranging from $788 to $798.90.
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Ending higher for a second straight day, palladium for December delivery rose $6.40, or 0.7%, to $960.70 an ounce, trading between $944.50 and $970.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold declined $6.90, or 0.6%, to 1,197.30 an ounce.
- Silver dipped 2.5 cents, or 0.2%, to $14.665 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 muted Thursday following broad gains on Wednesday. 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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | Last Week | This Week | July | August | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 31,500 | 17,500 | 136,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 | 22,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 54,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 25,000 | 10,000 | 160,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 24,500 | 20,000 | 98,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 225,000 | 350,000 | 885,000 | 1,530,000 | 9,237,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Voyageurs 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
