Gold futures traded higher on Wednesday for the first time in three sessions, climbing from a five-week low, while silver futures extended their losing streak to five sessions in a row.
Gold for August delivery added $2.30, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,245.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices were ending the U.S. day session slightly higher Wednesday, on some more short-covering in the futures market and on some technical chart consolidation after prices hit a four-week low early on," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Mostly weaker world stock markets today also worked in favor of the gold market bulls."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,241.70 to a high of $1,248.80. They dipped 0.3% in the previous session — marking their weakest close since May 16, and lost 0.8% on Monday.
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery shed 4.3 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $16.374 an ounce. The settlement is the lowest since May 11. Silver futures traded between $16.31 and $16.50. They declined 0.5% on Tuesday and fell 1% in their start to the week on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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July platinum gained $5.50, or 0.6%, to $927 an ounce, ranging from $916.50 to $928.50.
- Palladium for September delivery advanced $9.30, or 1.1%, to $876.45 an ounce, trading between $860.70 and $882.35.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold edged up 30 cents to $1,242.50 an ounce.
- Silver fell 8 cents, or 0.5%, to $16.51 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:25 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. 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 | Last Week | This Week | May | June | YTD | |
$100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 3,000 | 140,000 |
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 27,000 |
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 48,000 |
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 10,000 | 250,000 |
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 0 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 65,000 |
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 205,000 | 272,000 | 2,455,000 | 706,000 | 11,953,500 |
2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 500 | 6,300 | 5,600 | 8,800 | 35,000 |
2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,400 | 0 | 20,000 |
2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 2,800 | 0 | N/A/ | 20,000 | 20,000 |