Precious metals declined together for a second day in a row on Tuesday, although losses were modest for most, especially when compared to the drops on Monday.
Falling for the seventh consecutive session, gold for December delivery shed $5.70, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,841.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For a third straight instance, the settlement was the lowest since ending at $1,834.60 an ounce on March 9.
"A very strong U.S. dollar and rising U.S. Treasury yields that are at 16-year highs, with both showing no signs of backing down, are keeping precious metals in a tailspin," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,830.90 and $1,849.30. They slipped by 1% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery gave back 4.4 cents, or 0.2%, to $21.377 an ounce, marking its lowest settlement since closing at $20.506 an ounce on March 16. Silver futures ranged from $20.87 to $21.60. On Monday, they tumbled by 4.6%.
In other precious metals prices on Tuesday:
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January platinum declined by $7.20, or 0.8%, to $879.60 an ounce, with prices trading between $875 and $890.40.
- Palladium for December delivery fell by $13, or 1.1%, to $1,192.90 an ounce, ranging from $1,165 and $1,216.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Monday, the U.S. Mint adjusted its bullion sales for September and published starting sales for October, while no changes were made on Tuesday.
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 / October | July | August | September | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 25,500 | 41,000 | 78,000 | 27,500 | 797,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 13,000 | 88,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 30,000 | 170,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 150,000 | 40,000 | 585,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,500 | 16,500 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 338,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 717,000 | 2,091,000 | 3,124,000 | 2,970,000 | 18,626,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
