Palladium stood alone among precious metals with gains Thursday, posting a fresh eight-month high. Gold, meanwhile, marked its worst ending in six weeks.
Gold for December delivery declined $11.70, or 1%, to settle at $1,187.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close is the lowest since ending at $1,184.20 an ounce on Aug. 17.
"The path of least resistance remains lower for gold as real interest rates (and more important the outlook for them) continue to climb, and the trends are still bearish on the charts," MarketWatch quoted Tyler Richey, co-editor for the Sevens Report.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,185.60 to a high of $1,202.60. They lost 0.5% on Wednesday, inched up Tuesday by 70 cents, or less than 0.1%, and moved up 0.3% on Monday.
Silver for December delivery declined 11.1 cents, or 0.8%, to end at $14.29 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $14.19 and $14.48. The settlement is the weakest since Sept. 19 when silver finished at $14.28 an ounce.
Silver prices fell 0.6% on Wednesday, gained 1.1% on Tuesday — marking their best close since Aug. 31, and slipped 0.1% on Monday.
In rounding out precious metals futures prices on Thursday;
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January platinum dropped $14.40, or 1.7%, to $814.70 an ounce, ranging from $809.70 to $835.70.
- Palladium for December delivery advanced $8.10, or 0.8%, to $1,071.20 an ounce — its best close since Jan. 29 when ending at $1,083.40 an ounce, and its twelth straight session increase. The precious metal traded between $1,050.10 and $1,074.40.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold declined $8.85, or 0.7%, to 1,185.40 an ounce.
- Silver fell 5.5 cents, 0.4%, to $14.42 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 increased by a combined 1,500 ounces in American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins.
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 | August | September | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 3,500 | 17,500 | 14,500 | 151,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 24,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 58,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 40,000 | 200,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 0 | 3,500 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 108,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 925,000 | 470,000 | 1,530,000 | 2,432,500 | 11,670,000 |
| 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 |
| Cumberland Island 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 0 | N/A | 52,500 | 52,500 |
