Precious metals futures were mixed Wednesday. Gold bounced slightly from a 4-month low while silver etched a fresh about 21-week low.
Gold for February delivery added $1.20, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,266.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Short covering in the futures market and some perceived bargain hunting in the cash market were featured after prices fell to a four-month low on Tuesday," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report.
"The key ‘outside markets’ were in a bearish posture for the precious metals Wednesday. The U.S. dollar index was higher and Nymex crude oil futures prices were solidly lower," Wyckoff added.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,264.80 to a high of $1,271.80. They declined 1% in the previous session — ending at their lowest price since Aug. 8, and slipped 0.4% in starting the week on Monday.
Silver for March delivery fell 11.3 cents, or 0.7%, to end at $15.955 an ounce. The settlement is the lowest since July 14 when the precious metal closed at $15.933 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $15.93 to $16.17. They dropped 1.9% on Tuesday and lost about 0.1% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum settled down $14.70, or 1.6%, to $902.80 an ounce, trading between $900 and $917.90.
- Palladium for March delivery gained $9.80, or 1%, to $986.95 an ounce, ranging from $977.25 to $988.50.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold fell $2.60, or 0.2%, to 1,263.70 an ounce.
- Silver declined 17 cents, or 1%, to $16.115 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 | November | December | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 0 | 9,500 | 0 | 190,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 34,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 60,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 380,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 86,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 90,000 | 110,000 | 385,000 | 110,000 | 17,433,500 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
| 2017 George Rogers Clark 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32,400 | 0 | 32,400 |
