Precious metals ended lower Tuesday, in their start to the new trading month of August, posting losses that ranged from 1.5% for gold to 3% for palladium.
Gold for December delivery declined by $30.40, closing at $1,978.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices are softening as we see movement higher in the U.S. dollar. There is also some profit-taking ahead of a nonfarm payroll report in the week," Reuters quoted Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
Gold futures traded between $1,978.30 and $2,004.40, after climbing by 0.5% on Monday to register the highest settlement since May 15 and log an increase in July of 4.1%.
Meanwhile, silver for September fell by 64.6 cents, or 2.6%, to end at $24.326 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $24.25 to $24.91, after rising by 2% on Monday to score the best close since July 19 and mark a 8.5% gain in July.
In other precious metals prices on Tuesday:
-
October platinum shed $18.20, or 1.9%, to $940.40 an ounce, trading between $928.50 and $962.60.
- Palladium for September delivery declined by $38.50 to $1,237.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,222 to $1,286.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Monday, July 24, the U.S. Mint reported bullion sales gains, marking only the second occurrence last month. Since then, there have been no additional reports of bullion sales.
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 | May | June | July | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 24,000 | 60,500 | 35,000 | 36,000 | 661,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 32,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 80,000 | 60,000 | 0 | 385,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 11,000 | 47,000 | 17,000 | 13,500 | 290,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 790,000 | 1,593,000 | 1,482,000 | 1,240,000 | 10,928,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,200 | 3,500 | 0 | 12,700 |
Palladium continues to get beat up badly!
NumisdudeTX
Kaiser & Mike Unser,
It has been stuck on that date since May 15 for some strange reason I noticed. Maybe Mike Unser can let us know why.
NumisdudeTX