In kicking off the new trading week Tuesday following the U.S. Independence Day holiday on Monday, precious metals posted losses ranging from 1% for palladium to 2.8% for silver. Gold, silver and platinum marked another, new round of settlement lows.
Gold for August delivery fell $37.60, or 2.1%, to settle at $1,763.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since gold ended at $1,762.70 an ounce on Dec. 2.
"Gold futures hit a 6.5-month low and silver a two-year low today. The precious metals are reeling from a stronger U.S. dollar index that scored a 20-year high today, and by big losses in crude oil that saw Nymex crude drop back below $100 a barrel," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,763 and $1,815.20. They shed 1.6% last week.
Silver for September delivery gave back 54.6 cents to end at $19.121 an ounce. The close was the lowest since silver settled at $19.053 an ounce on July 10, 2020. Silver futures ranged from a low of $18.97 to a high of $20.10. They sank 6.9% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Tuesday:
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October platinum settled down $20.60, or 2.4%, to $850.70 an ounce — the lowest since ending at $848.40 an ounce on Oct. 30, 2020. Platinum traded between $837.60 and $878.70.
- Palladium for September delivery declined $19.30 to $1,918.80 an ounce, ranging from $1,876.50 to $1,953.
Last week, platinum fell 3.6% while palladium increased 4.5%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged on Tuesday. 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 / This Week / July | Last Week | April | May | June | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 27,500 | 80,500 | 164,500 | 27,500 | 622,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 3,000 | 7,000 | 4,000 | 64,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 16,000 | 14,000 | 8,000 | 16,000 | 126,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 105,000 | 25,000 | 50,000 | 105,000 | 475,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 12,500 | 27,500 | 56,000 | 15,000 | 253,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 861,000 | 850,000 | 1,350,000 | 861,000 | 10,642,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 18,500 | 0 | 0 | 18,500 | 58,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Scrooge used to shovel out a Tablespoon of Gold to pay the monthly expenses now he needs a double wide shovel –
Thanks for that warm award – it reminds me of setting around at the Grand Floridian with Scrooge McDuck and Goofy while the Kitchen prepares one of those huge Steak Burgers – hold the bacon.
All I can say is……………..
A glance at futures as we come into the home stretch