Precious metals declined on Thursday, logging losses ranging from 0.5% for gold to 2.2% for palladium. Gold’s retreat was its third in four sessions, but follows the more than five-month settlement high reached on Wednesday.
Gold for December delivery shed $8.80 to settle at $1,861.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"At the moment, it’s difficult for gold to find direction because of the uncertainty related to the dollar’s performance, and the likely response of the Fed and other central banks to inflation," Reuters quoted ActivTrades senior analyst Ricardo Evangelista.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,856.60 to a high of $1,873.30. They tacked on 0.9% on Wednesday, for their best close since June 11, they fell 0.7% on Tuesday, and they dipped 0.1% on Monday.
Silver for December delivery lost 26.7 cents, or 1.1%, to settle at $24.90 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $24.73 and $25.23. They rose 0.9% on Wednesday, they shed 0.6% on Tuesday, and they lost 1% on Monday. On Friday, they ended at $25.346 an ounce for their highest finish since Aug. 4.
In other precious metals futures prices on Thursday:
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January platinum declined $12.70, or 1.2%, to $1,056.40 an ounce, ranging from $1,048 to $1,080.
- Palladium for December delivery dropped $47.10 to $2,137.40 an ounce, trading between $2,127.50 and $2,216.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
Published United States Mint bullion sales increased Thursday by a combined 10,000 ounces in 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 | September | October | November | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 6,000 | 26,000 | 29,500 | 67,500 | 135,500 | 73,000 | 1,022,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 94,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 8,000 | 22,000 | 6,000 | 156,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 5,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 85,000 | 35,000 | 485,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 3,500 | 15,500 | 11,000 | 24,000 | 41,000 | 26,500 | 327,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 524,500 | 2,735,000 | 1,076,000 | 999,000 | 27,750,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 800 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700* | 8,700 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
*On Wednesday, the U.S. Mint published a correction, moving previously reported November sales of Platinum Eagles to Palladium Eagles.
