Gold, silver and palladium futures advanced Wednesday while platinum declined. Gains in gold and silver were modest.
Gold for February delivery edged up 60 cents, or 0.04%, to settle at $1,570.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Even if prevailing (coronavirus ) concerns fade … gold is likely to continue benefiting from supportive central bank policies," analysts at Zaner Metals wrote in a daily note reported by MarketWatch. And looking further ahead, "we expect global slowdown concerns to re-emerge, which should lead to rising volatility in equity markets and, in turn, encourage higher allocations into gold and other precious metals."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,562 to a high of $1,573.90. They declined 0.5% on Tuesday and they rose 0.4% on Monday, marking their highest close since April 9, 2013.
Silver for March delivery rose 2.9 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $17.487 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $17.28 and $17.52. They tumbled 3.3% on Tuesday and they lost 0.3% on Monday.
In PGM future prices on Wednesday:
-
April platinum fell $19.70, or 2%, to $975.30 an ounce, ranging from $974.10 to $1,000.30.
- Palladium for March delivery gained $17.10, or 0.8%, to $2,202.20 an ounce, trading between $2,171.90 and $2,233.80. Last Wednesday, palladium scored a record settlement of $2,335.60 an ounce.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold dipped 55 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,573.45 an ounce.
- Silver dropped 50.5 cents, or 2.8%, to $17.47 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales remained unchanged according to available figures from the Mint’s website. 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 / This Week | November | December | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 19,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin* | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 13,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 14,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 1,500 | 10,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 2,298,000 |
