Precious metals declined in their start to the new trading week on Tuesday, with U.S. markets closed on Monday for the Juneteenth holiday. The losses for the day varied, with gold falling by 1.2% and silver by 3.7%. Both gold and silver reached nearly four-week lows.
Gold for August delivery dropped by $23.50 to settle at $1,947.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since May 25.
Gold and silver prices fell, "feeling the pressure of a higher U.S. dollar index and lower crude oil prices on this day." Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
"The marketplace awaits Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s latest thoughts. He will provide his semi-annual monetary policy report to Congress on Wednesday and Thursday," Wyckoff added.
Gold futures traded between $1,940.80 and $1,971.80. They shed 0.3% last week.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery sank 89.2 cents to finish at $23.234 an ounce. Similar to gold, this closing price was the lowest since May 25. The range for silver futures was between $23.10 and $24.26. Last week, they recorded a 1.2% decrease.
In other precious metals prices on Tuesday:
-
July platinum declined by $19.30, or 2%, to $968 an ounce, trading between $956.30 and $989.
- Palladium for September delivery ended down $37.10, or 2.6%, to $1,379.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,351.50 to $1,417..
Last week, platinum fell by 2.5%, while palladium soared 8.5%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
Last Tuesday, June 13, the U.S. Mint published bullion sales gains for the first time this month. No further sales have been reported since then. The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | Last Week | March | April | May | June | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 16,000 | 211,000 | 159,500 | 60,500 | 16,000 | 606,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 32,000 | 4,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 80,000 | 15,000 | 340,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 73,000 | 61,000 | 47,000 | 7,000 | 266,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 725,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 1,593,000 | 725,000 | 8,967,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 3,500 | 7,500 | 500 | 1,200 | 3,500 | 12,700 |
In other news, rhodium fell $300 per ounce yesterday!
NumisdudeTX
First day of Summer, Wednesday June 21(Summer Solstice) precious metals news:
Rhodium is down $200 per ounce today after dropping $300 yesterday!
Silver has gone from above $24 earlier this week to below $24 & now today below $23 an ounce!!
Discuss amongst yourselves…
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser, I agree wholeheartedly. I’m not a gambler at heart, but I did visit Las Vegas 14 times for vacation with family & friends over the years. It is a curious & fascinating place with lots to do other than gambling. I always set aside a certain dollar amount to use for gambling for each trip & did not exceed that budget. I often wondered how many people have to live in Las Vegas because they lost their life savings & their shirts & pants & underwear gambling there and had to start their lives over. The stock market &… Read more »
Kaiser, I totally understand that for sure, as I have had OCD issues since childhood. I was only able to handle the Vegas trips by not only verbally telling myself, family & friends that I would stick to my strict budget for the gambling part of the trip & I put it in writing for myself & carried the note in my pocket during the trips. I haven’t had any addiction problems of any kind in my life thankfully (except big-time coffee/caffeine consumption in college!). Tip for those thinking of visiting Las Vegas: It is not the place for those… Read more »