Gold futures on Wednesday reclaimed most of their losses in the past two days as the U.S. dollar gave back some gains.
Gold for February delivery gained $7.40, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,177.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold trading lately has mainly been driven by two factors: capital leaving defensive havens as political risks ease and the impact of the U.S. dollar rally," MarketWatch quoted Colin Cieszynski, chief market analyst at CMC Markets. "Both of these trends, which have severely crushed gold in recent weeks, appear to be exhausted and starting to reverse."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,167.20 to a high of $1,182.30. They lost 0.5% in the previous session and dipped 0.1% on Monday.
Rising for the fourth time in five sessions, silver for March delivery rallied 46.5 cents, or 2.8%, to settle at $17.275 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.70 and $17.30. On Tuesday, they slipped 0.5%.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum rose $7.50, or 0.8%, to $943.20 an ounce, ranging from $928 to $950.90.
- Palladium for March delivery shed $1.75, or 0.2%, to $732.65 an ounce, trading between $728.40 and $739.50.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold added $5.15, or 0.4%, to $1,177.65 an ounce.
- Silver dipped 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $16.77 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Wednesday as of 3:20 p.m. ET, though most of the agency’s 2016-dated coins have sold out.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | This Week | Nov Sales | Dec Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | – | 20,000 | ||||
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins* | – | 29,000 | 23,000 | 129,000 | 23,000 | 817,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 7,000 | 2,000 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins* | – | 2,000 | 2,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 152,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins* | – | 20,000 | 40,000 | 105,000 | 40,000 | 925,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 6,500 | 5,500 | 29,500 | 5,500 | 212,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 175,000 | 240,000 | 3,061,000 | 240,000 | 37,701,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 105,000 | ||||
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 75,000 | ||||
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 100 | 1,500 | 100 | 38,100 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | -2,000 | 800 | 6,600 | 800 | 40,000 |
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | -3,000 | 0 | 27,800 | 0 | 27,800 |
