U.S. gold retreated from a five-week high while silver extended its winning streak to seven sessions and closed at its highest price in six weeks.
Gold on Wednesday gave back its prior day’s gains, plus 30 cents. Gold futures for February delivery declined $6.50, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,686.70 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The yellow metal traded between $1,683.10 and $1,694.80.
Supported by a weaker U.S. dollar and Bank of Japan stimulus news, gold’s settlement price in the prior session was the highest since Dec. 17. The BOJ’s announcement remained in the headlines Wednesday.
"Gold should find support from the BOJ stimulus as the liquidity created by the BOJ finds its way into the broader global economy," Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet wrote in the report according to Bloomberg. "We still expect $1,700 to provide resistance and $1,660 to provide support. If gold manages to break through $1,700, we would target $1,720."
The outlier in precious metals on Wednesday was silver. March silver prices gained 26.2 cents, or 0.8%, to $32.439 an ounce. The settlement price was the highest since Dec. 12. Silver prices ranged from an intraday low of $32.10 to a high of $32.485.
"Silver has now rallied for seven days due to the flood of inflows into silver-backed [exchange-traded funds] and investment demand for coins and bars internationally," said analysts at GoldCore in a gold blog Wednesday.
The U.S. Mint exhausted its supply of American Silver Eagle bullion coins late last week, and implemented a temporary sales suspension.
PGM’s moved in the same direction as gold:
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Platinum for April delivery fell $6.70, or 0.4%, to $1,691.80 an ounce, ranging from $1,689.20 to $1,704.60.
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March palladium lost $3.70, or 0.5%, to $726.20 an ounce, trading between $722.70 and $728.80.
London Precious Metals
London bullion prices split Wednesday with gold slightly lower and the other metals higher. In contrasting the latest London PM Fix prices:
- Gold dipped 25.0 cents to $1,690.25 an ounce,
- Silver prices advanced 29.0 cents, or 0.9%, to $32.23 an ounce,
- Platinum gained $11.50, or 0.7%, to $1,698.50 an ounce, and
- Palladium ended up $8.00, or 1.1%, to $725.00 an ounce
Sales of US Mint Bullion Coins
Sales levels for U.S. Mint bullion coins remained unchanged Wednesday. The latest daily, week-to-date and year-to-date bullion sales follow.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | 2013 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 23,500 | 3,000 | 107,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 1,000 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 24,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 30,000 | 5,000 | 105,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 27,000 | 66,500 |
| American Eagle Silver Coin* | 0 | 1,225,000 | 0 | 6,007,000 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | All-Time Sales | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21,900 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25,400 |
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 95,600 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41,200 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31,400 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 275,500 |
Coin sales figures shown above are in the number of coins sold. Calculate total ounces by using the bullion coin’s weight.
No sales in any of the 2012 5-ounce Atb’s in weeks. Looks like either the 2012’s are sold out, or the Mint is holding them back in an attempt to clear some of the 2011’s (which are currently being discounted to AP’s).