Gold prices on Wednesday rose for a third straight session in very thin trading. Its change from Tuesday was modest, like other precious metals.
Gold for August delivery climbed $1.10, or less than 0.1%, to finish at $1,261.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement price is the highest since gold ended at $1,265.50 an ounce on May 27. Gold prices traded from a low of $1,257.90 to a high of $1,265.50.
U.S. stocks slipped Wednesday, lending some support to gold, opined analysts.
"Gold futures have been acting as a decent hedge to the stock market all year and weakness in equities… is attracting some bids into the gold market," MarketWatch quoted Tyler Richey, an analyst for the 7:00’s Report.
"For the near term, it appears gold is settling into a new trading range between $1,240 and $1,270-$1,280 level," he said. "However, it is worth noting that the Commitments of Traders report released by the CFTC last week showed a substantial increase in short interest in recent weeks, so the risk of a short squeeze back to the $1,300 area exists."
Silver for July delivery inched up less than a penny to close at $19.17 an ounce. Prices ranged from $19.15 to $19.33 and have ended higher in seven of the last eight sessions.
In PGM futures, platinum snapped a five-session winning streak while palladium rose for the ninth time in ten sessions. In their daily breakdowns:
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July platinum dipped $1.10, or less than 0.1%, to $1,481.10 an ounce, trading between $1,474.80 and $1,488.40.
- Palladium for September delivery advanced $5.60, or 0.7%, to $860.15 an ounce, ranging from $851.95 to $864.60.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals also changed narrowly. In contrasting the London bullion fixings from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold added $2.50, or 0.2%, to $1,262 an ounce,
- Silver gained 20 cents, or 1%, to $19.20 an ounce,
- Platinum rose $5, or 0.3%, to $1,483 an ounce, and
- Palladium added $5, or 0.6%, to $856 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in June
Sales totals of U.S. Mint bullion products were unchanged as of 2:41 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold last week, this week so far, last month, the month-to-date, and the year-to-date.
American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wednesday Sales | Sales Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | May Sales | June Sales | YTD Sales | |
$100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 0 | 1,000 | 500 | 12,700 |
$50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 10,500 | 6,000 | 29,000 | 16,500 | 172,000 |
$25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 25,000 |
$10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 68,000 |
$5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 35,000 | 15,000 | 340,000 |
$50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,500 | 2,000 | 12,500 | 5,500 | 101,000 |
$1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 670,000 | 675,000 | 3,988,500 | 1,345,000 | 22,781,500 |
Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 500 | 4,000 | 1,000 | 28,000 |
Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 0 | 19,100 | 500 | 19,600 |
Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | N/A | 13,500 | N/A | 13,500 | 13,500 |