Precious metals declined together for a fourth day in a row on Thursday, with losses ranging from 0.2% for gold to 2.3% for palladium. Gold reached a new, nearly seven-month low.
Falling for the ninth consecutive session, gold for December delivery edged down by $3 to settle at $1,831.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since gold ended at $1,818.60 an ounce on March 8.
"Gold and silver prices are modestly weaker in midday U.S. trading Thursday. The precious metals traders are tentative ahead of Friday’s important U.S. employment report," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,826.20 and $1,843.50. They lost 0.4% on Wednesday, they shed 0.3% on Tuesday, and they slipped by 1% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery declined by 12.7 cents, or 0.6%, to $21.019 an ounce, marking its lowest settlement since closing at $20.506 an ounce on March 16. Silver futures ranged from $20.85 to $21.46. They fell by 1.1% on Wednesday, they gave back 0.2% on Tuesday, and they tumbled by 4.6% on Monday.
In other precious metals prices on Thursday:
-
January platinum fell by $11.70, or 1.3%, to $862.50 an ounce, with prices trading between $860.70 and $879.40.
- Palladium for December delivery declined by $27.10 to $1,144.90 an ounce, ranging from $1,142.50 and $1,186.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Thursday, the U.S. Mint increased its bullion sales for October, with gains reported for American Gold Eagles, American Silver Eagles, and American Gold Buffalos.
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday | This Week / October | July | August | September | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 15,000 | 40,500 | 41,000 | 78,000 | 27,500 | 812,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 13,000 | 90,000 |
| $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 | 6,000 | 13,500 | 16,500 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 344,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 68,000 | 785,000 | 2,091,000 | 3,124,000 | 2,970,000 | 18,694,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
Just look at it’s long term historical chart.