Gold turned slightly lower Wednesday, but was well off an earlier low which was triggered by an instant view from the Federal Reserve’s latest statement that a fresh round of quantitative easing was unlikely any time soon.
"The [Fed] statement clearly took QE3 off the table for an extended period," MarketWatch quoted Bill O’Neill, a principal with Logic Advisors in New Jersey. "That was the major component in the selloff."
Gold prices for June delivery dipped $1.50, or, 0.1%, to $1,642.30 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The yellow metal traded between $1,625.00 and $1,647.60.
Silver prices for May delivery declined 39.0 cents, or 1.3%, to $30.356 an ounce. Prices bracketed $29.925 and $30.965.
Platinum prices for July delivery slipped 80.0 cents, or 0.1%, to $1,547.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,542.50 to $1,559.40.
Palladium prices for June delivery fell $10.70, or 1.6%, to $655.10 an ounce, trading between $652.25 and $671.95.
London Precious Metal
London precious metals moved lower with the exception of silver which was nearly unchanged. When comparing the most recent London PM fixings:
- Gold declined $11.75, or 0.7%, to $1,637.75 an ounce,
- Silver rose 2.0 cents, or 0.1%, to $30.88 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $2.00, or 0.1%, to $1,551.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium fell $9.00, or 1.3%, to $665.00 an ounce
U.S. Mint Bullion Coins
Sales levels for U.S. Mint bullion coins were unchanged for a second straight day. The following are the available daily, April and year-to-date bullion coin sales totals as published by the U.S. Mint.
| U.S. Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Gains | April Gains | YTD 2012 | |
| American Gold Eagle (1 oz.) | 0 | 16,000 | 178,000 |
| American Gold Eagle (1/2 oz.) | 0 | 0 | 51,000 |
| American Gold Eagle (1/4 oz.) | 0 | 2,000 | 42,000 |
| American Gold Eagle (1/10 oz.) | 0 | 5,000 | 135,000 |
| American Gold Buffalo Coin (1 oz.) | 0 | 9,000 | 55,500 |
| American Silver Eagle | 0 | 1,280,000 | 11,419,000 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prior Weekly | Weekly Gains | All-Time Total | |
| Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 85,100 |
| Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 38,300 |
| Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 28,900 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | 152,300 |
All bullion coin sales in the above tables are in number of coins, not in the amount of ounces sold. The U.S. Mint last updated five ounce bullion silver coins sold on Monday, April 9.
