Precious metals fell sharply on Tuesday, registering drops that ranged from 1.3% for gold to 7.2% for palladium. Losses in silver, platinum and palladium were their first in several sessions.
Gold for December delivery declined $23.20 to settle at $1,717.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"A hot U.S. inflation report ‘wrong-footed’ the marketplace Tuesday, pushing gold and silver prices solidly down and sending the U.S. dollar index and bond yields higher. The U.S. stock market tumbled but the precious metals could garner no strong safe-haven bids," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
The U.S. Labor Department reported Tuesday that consumer prices rose 0.1% in August after being unchanged in July, resulting in year-over-year inflation of 8.3% from 8.5%. Market expectations had been for a 0.1% monthly decline and an annual rate of around 8% to 8.1%. Further, core inflation, which strips food and energy, advanced 0.6% for the month from 0.3% and it increased 6.3% from a year ago against 5.9% previously.
On the day, gold futures traded between $1,706.70 and $1,742.90. They gained 0.7% on Monday, for their highest settlement since Aug. 29.
Declining for the first time in seven sessions, silver for December delivery lost 36.9 cents, or 1.9%, to close at $19.491 an ounce. Silver prices traded between $19.35 and $19.93. They soared 5.8% on Monday, for their strongest finish since Aug. 16.
In other precious metals futures on Tuesday:
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Also falling for the first time in seven sessions, October platinum fell $20.50, or 2.3%, to $883.70 an ounce, ranging from $877.80 and $914.70. On Monday, platinum marked its best finish since Aug. 18.
- Dropping for the first time in five sessions, palladium for December delivery tumbled $163.50 to $2,111.10 an ounce, trading between $2,090 and $2,277.50. On Monday, palladium posted its highest close since Aug. 11.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States 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 | May | June | July | August | September | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 164,500 | 31,000 | 59,500 | 47,500 | 20,000 | 753,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 138,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 50,000 | 135,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 550,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 56,000 | 21,500 | 39,500 | 22,500 | 11,500 | 333,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,350,000 | 925,000 | 850,000 | 850,000 | 425,000 | 12,831,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 23,500 | 15,500 | 1,000 | 0 | 80,000 |
After the euphoria yesterday, the hangover today.