Gold fell modestly in normal trade Wednesday, and then cycled between slight losses and gains in after-hours when minutes from the Fed’s last meeting were published.
Gold for December delivery settled down $2.50, or 0.2%, to $1,370.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The precious metal ranged from $1,359.20 to $1,373.80 an ounce.
Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s last monetary policy meeting offered no guidance to when its buying of bonds would slow.
"Comex gold futures prices were modestly higher in afternoon U.S. trading Wednesday, in a modest ‘relief rally’ after the release of the FOMC minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve," said Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, in a daily note. "After some initial price gyrations gold and silver prices settled down and then rallied a bit after the release of the minutes."
Silver for September delivery declined 10.8 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $22.96 an ounce. Prices ranged from $22.76 and $23.15. The downward close was a third in a row, though silver prices have only fallen 36 cents in that time after soaring $2.91 last week.
In PGMs on Wednesday:
-
October platinum fell $6.40, or 0.4%, to $1,519.10 an ounce, trading between $1,506.50 and $1,524.90.
-
Palladium for September shed $2.75, or 0.4%, to $746.90 an ounce, ranging from $741.30 to $750.65.
London Fix Precious Metals
For a second day, London precious metals fixings were mixed. On Tuesday, all but gold declined. On Wednesday, gold was alone with a loss. When comparing the Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold fell $9.50, or 0.7%, to $1,363 an ounce,
- Silver added 7 cents, or 0.3%, to $22.94 an ounce,
- Platinum rose $6, or 0.4%, to $1,518 an ounce, and
- Palladium inched up $1, or 0.1%, to $749 an ounce
US Bullion Sales
Bullion sales advanced Wednesday for United States Mint gold coins. Splits were 2,000 ounces in Gold Eagles and 1,000 ounces in Gold Buffalo coins. Sales on the day, for the week and the month so far, and year-to-date follow.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | August Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,500 | 591,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 48,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 96,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 455,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 1,500 | 1,500 | 6,000 | 186,000 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 100 | 100 | 30,000 |
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 300 | 1,300 | 1,600 | 22,400 |
| Great Basin 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,700 | 1,700 | 19,100 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 746,000 | 850,000 | 2,446,000 | 31,896,000 |
Figures above are in the number of coins sold, not in ounces.
