Precious metals futures declined Thursday after advancing on Wednesday. Their losses ranged from 0.3% for gold to 1% for both silver and platinum.
Gold for December delivery declined $3.60 to settle at $1,225.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"A rebound in the U.S. dollar index today, following selling pressure this week, worked against the precious metals market bulls," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "The metals markets showed no significant reactions to the just-released FOMC minutes that show no change in U.S. monetary policy."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,220.80 to a high of $1,228.50. They rose 0.2% on Wednesday, lost 0.5% on Tuesday, and dipped less than 0.1% on Monday.
Silver for December delivery fell 14.6 cents to settle at $14.423 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $14.36 and $14.58. They gained 0.5% on Wednesday, declined 1% on Tuesday, and lost 0.7% on Monday.
In other precious metals futures prices on Thursday:
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January platinum settled down $8.50 to $870.30 an ounce, ranging from $864.80 to $878.30.
- Palladium for December delivery declined $4.60, or 0.4%, to $1,116.10 an ounce, trading between $1,098.40 and $1,123.40. On Monday, they closed just $1.20 away from an all-time record.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold fell $5.80, or 0.5%, to 1,224.15 an ounce.
- Silver declined 18 cents, or 1.2%, to $14.49 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 Thursday. 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 | October | November | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 4,000 | 21,000 | 4,000 | 176,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 60,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 220,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 2,000 | 6,500 | 2,000 | 116,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 75,000 | 405,000 | 1,430,000 | 405,000 | 13,970,000 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,500 |
