Precious metals declined Tuesday following their gains on Monday. The losses ranged from less than 0.1% for gold to 3% for platinum.
Gold for August delivery dipped 70 cents, or 0.04%, to settle at $1,813.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Technically, the gold bulls have the strong overall near-term technical advantage. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close in August futures above solid resistance at $1,850.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at last week’s low of $1,779.20," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily research note. “
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,791.10 to a high of $1,815. They rose 0.7% on Monday. Last Wednesday they ended at $1,820.60 an ounce for their highest settlement since Sept. 14, 2011.
Silver for September delivery shed 25.8 cents, or 1.3%, to close at $19.53 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $19.24 and $19.69. They rallied 3.9% on Monday, marking their highest finish since Sept. 23, 2016, when the precious metal ended at $19.81 an ounce.
In other precious metals prices Tuesday:
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October platinum dropped $26.20 to $836.80 an ounce, ranging from $825.50 to $851.40.
- Palladium for September delivery settled down $55.30, or 2.7%, to $1,985.60 an ounce, trading between $1,958.10 and $2,021.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Monday PM to Tuesday PM:
- Gold declined $5.60, or 0.3%, to $1,801.90 an ounce.
- Silver fell 20 cents, or 1.1%, to $18.895 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
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) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday | Last Week | This Week | May | June | July | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,500 | 5,000 | 5,500 | 42,500 | 13,500 | 341,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 41,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 12,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 175,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 2,500 | 7,500 | 5,000 | 131,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 490,000 | 1,378,000 | 0 | 12,596,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,500 |
In terms of 5-ounce silver bullion sales for 2020, the U.S. Mint is working on getting them automated and reported. Initial U.S. Mint-provided figures have the first two 2020-dated pieces at 45,000 produced and sold per issue. These amounts are being verified.
