Precious metals sank Thursday, posting losses ranging from 4.7% for gold to 11.4% for palladium. Gold marked its fourth decline in five sessions, and it finished at a 7-week low.
Gold for August delivery fell $86.60 to settle at $1,774.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since gold ended April 30 at $1,767.70 an ounce.
"The metals saw a very bearish reaction to Wednesday afternoon’s Federal Reserve Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting that was deemed hawkish on U.S. monetary policy. That, in turn, powered the U.S. dollar index to a two-month high, further hurting the metals market bulls," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,767.90 to a high of $1,826.40. They rose 0.3% on Wednesday, they declined 0.5% on Tuesday, and they lost 0.7% on Monday.
Silver for July delivery plummeted $1.96, or 7%, to close at $25.856 an ounce. The finish was the worst since silver settled April 20 at $25.84 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $25.82 and $27.32. They climbed 0.4% on Wednesday, they fell 1.2% on Tuesday, and they dipped 0.4% on Monday.
In other precious metals prices Thursday:
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July platinum declined $86.70, or 7.6%, to $1,055.20 an ounce, ranging from $1,043.90 to $1,131.40.
- Palladium for September delivery plunged $324.60 to $2,512.20 an ounce, trading between $2,501 and $2,808.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
The United States Mint published no sales gains on 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 / This Week | Last Week | March Sales | April Sales | May | June | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 55,500 | 38,500 | 20,500 | 4,000 | 430,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 55,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 33,500 | 11,000 | 44,000 | 7,000 | 173,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,087,000 | 1,053,000 | 0 | 0 | 13,106,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 35,000 | 0 | 40,000 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 50,000 | 2,900 | 0 | 52,900 |
