Gold Sales Tumble at Perth Mint After Rout Deters Buyers
4 July 2013, by Phoebe Sedgman (bloomberg)


Excerpt:

Gold sales from Australia’s Perth Mint, which refines nearly all of the bullion mined in the country, declined for a second month in June as prices extended a bear-market slump, deterring buyers.

Buyers increased purchases in April “but in May and June have realized that prices are still coming down and it’s not doing as well,”

Ron Currie, sales and marketing director at the mint, said in a phone interview from Perth. “They’re waiting to see how the market goes.”

The U.S. Mint sold 57,000 ounces of American Eagle gold coins in June from 70,000 ounces in May and 209,500 ounces in April, according to data on its website.

So-called price-sensitive buyers may wait for a well-defined bottom before entering the market, James Steel, an analyst at HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., wrote in a June 24 report.