Most precious metals ended modestly higher Wednesday with gold gaining for the first time in four sessions and silver advancing for a second day in a row. Both metals than declined in after-hours trading following the statement release by the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) which signaled one more rate hike this year.
Gold for December delivery rose $5.80, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,316.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. In electronic trading after the Fed statement, the precious metal dropped below $1,300 an ounce.
"The Fed came out and said they were going to do their QE reversal of about $10 billion a month; they still expect a Fed rate hike in December and three more in 2018. This puts a little pressure on gold," Reuters quoted Jeff Klearman, portfolio manager at GraniteShares, a provider and manager of exchange traded funds.
Silver for December delivery added 5.5 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $17.334 an ounce. Silver futures gained 0.7% in the previous session and fell 3.1% on Monday, ending at their weakest point since Aug. 25. Silver was last at $17.07 an ounce.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
October platinum declined $5.80, or 0.6%, to $945.40 an ounce, trading between $939.90 and $963.50.
- Palladium for December delivery gained $5.85, or 0.7%, to $910.15 an ounce, ranging from $898.10 to $912.95.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold rose $1.70, or 0.1%, to 1,311.30 an ounce.
- Silver gained 23 cents, or 1.3%, to rise to $17.38 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
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. 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 | August | September | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 6,500 | 6,000 | 168,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 29,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,000 | 5,000 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 325,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 1,500 | 76,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 1,025,000 | 125,000 | 15,703,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 | 0 | 40,000 |
