Precious metals futures declined in their start to the new trading month. Gold was the least impacted, falling less than 0.4%. The yellow metal then rallied in after-hours dealings following a tweet from President Trump about raising tariffs on Chinese imports.
Gold for December delivery shed $5.40 to settle at $1,432.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In electronic trading after the new tariff threats, gold prices moved above $1,453 an ounce.
"Gold has taken back all of the steep losses seen over the past 24 hours on news that President Trump is going to slap an additional 10% tariff on Chinese imports into the U.S. Markets went wild on the news," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report.
Gold futures had ranged from a low of $1,412.10 to a high of $1,453.20. In the previous session, they closed out the month logging a July gain of 1.7%. On Tuesday, they scored their highest settlement since May 9, 2013.
Silver for September delivery declined 22.5 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $16.18 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.93 and $16.39. They were last by $16.39 an ounce in after-hours trading.
In other precious metals futures prices Thursday:
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October platinum dropped $27.60, or 3.1%, to $851.30 an ounce, ranging from $845.60 to $870.10.
- Palladium for September tumbled $110.10, or 7.2%, to $1,414.30 an ounce, trading between $1,409.10 and $1,521.30.
Palladium futures are still 18.1% higher on the year following their loss on Thursday.
"Trade war concerns are affecting the view on car sales worldwide," but the "hypes overdone," MarketWatch quoted R. Michael Jones, president and chief executive officer of Platinum Group Metals Ltd. "Frankly, it is an excuse to hammer a market that has gone up."
The steep price drop is a "great gift opportunity for the people who actually need the metal," said Jones. "Supply is tight — if you look out the window cars are still going past. The world should just calm down."
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM:
- Gold fell $20.75, or 1.5%, to $1,406.80 an ounce.
- Silver declined 47 cents, or 2.9%, to $16.005 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were limited Thursday to its War In The Pacific 5-ounce silver coin, which advanced 6,000 units for 30,000 ounces.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday / August | Last Week | This Week | June | July | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 1,000 | 4,500 | 2,000 | 80,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 21,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 28,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 15,000 | 160,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 500 | 48,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 147,000 | 740,000 | 1,035,000 | 1,224,000 | 11,246,000 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 6,000 | N/A | 63,000 | N/A | 57,000 | 63,000 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | ||||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | ||||
