While other precious metals advanced Wednesday, gold declined for its ninth loss in the last ten sessions.
Gold prices surged early in the day, than slid. Gold for June delivery fell $10.20, or 0.7%, to end at $1,367.40 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Prices moved from an intraday low of $1,353.10 to a high of $1,413.30. Gold was pressured as Fed Chairman Bernanke signaled stimulus efforts may be scaled back.
"Bernanke in his prepared text before actually speaking to Congress led the market place to believe he is still fully in the dove’s camp and that he wants the present bond-buying program (QE3) to continue in the coming months," said Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, in a daily note. "However, when asked a question by a member of Congress, Bernanke answered that the bond-buying program could be ‘tapered’ as soon as the next couple of FOMC meetings."
In other New York bullion futures on Wednesday:
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Silver for July delivery edged up 1.7 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $22.472 an ounce. The precious metal ranged from $22.16 to $23.29. Silver ended down 0.6% on Tuesday.
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July platinum closed at $1,469.20 an ounce, gaining $10.80, or 0.7%. Platinum ranged from $1,458.80 to $1,493.50. It declined 1.8%, in the previous session.
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Palladium for June delivery rose $4.05, or 0.5%, to $752.15 an ounce. The metal traded between $744.00 and $755.00. Palladium added 1.4% on Tuesday.
London Fix Precious Metals
London Fix precious metals advanced for a second consecutive day. In contrasting the Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM London fixings:
- Gold surged $47.75, or 3.5%, to $1,408.50 an ounce,
- Silver rose 18.0 cents, or 0.8%, to $22.62 an ounce,
- Platinum added $18.00, or 1.2%, to $1,474.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium gained $9.00, or 1.2%, to $750.00 an ounce
US Bullion Coin Sales in May
U.S. Mint sales increased Wednesday for American Eagle silver coins. No other bullion products advanced. The following are the latest daily, May and year-to-date bullion coin totals as published by the United States Mint.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | May Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 28,000 | 7,000 | 50,000 | 484,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 42,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 76,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 300,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 6,500 | 2,000 | 11,000 | 143,000 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 12,700 | 10,600 | 23,300 | 23,300 |
| American Eagle Silver Coins | 37,500 | 833,500 | 866,500 | 2,600,000 | 20,910,000 |
*The U.S. Mint has temporarily suspended sales of its smallest American Gold Eagle until inventories are replenished. The Mint ran out of them on April 22.
