Gold turned lower for a second straight session Wednesday and closed below $1,300 an ounce for the first time since May 1.
Gold for June delivery dropped $19.70, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,288.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices traded from a low of $1,286.60 to a high of $1,315. Losses on the day were attributed to positive economic comments from Fed Chair Janet Yellen.
"The message today the gold traders heard was that tapering will continue," Bill O’Neill, a partner at Logic Advisors in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "The Ukraine crisis provided some support, but the overall sentiment remains subdued."
Gold started the week at a three-week high and then dipped 70 cents on Tuesday.
In other precious metals, silver and platinum snapped a three-session winning streak and palladium fell for the first time since Friday. In their daily breakdowns:
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Silver for July delivery fell 30 cents, or 1.5%, to $19.34 an ounce, ranging from $19.30 to $19.77.
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July platinum declined $23.30, or 1.6%, to $1,434.80 an ounce, trading between $1,433.10 and $1,458.70.
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Palladium for June delivery plunged $21.70, or 2.7%, to $796.70 an ounce, ranging from $795.40 to $818.45.
London Fix Precious Metals
Aside from silver which was flat, London precious metals fixing declined. In contrasting the London fix prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold shed $10.25, or 0.8%, to $1,296 an ounce,
- Silver was unchanged at $19.64 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $7, or 0.5%, to $1,443 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $7, or 0.9%, to $810 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in March
Sales totals of United States Mint bullion coins were unchanged Wednesday as of 4:35 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold last week, the week-to-date, last month, the month so far, and the year-to-date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Sales Last Week | Week To Date | April Sales | May Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 200 | 0 | 1,200 | 0 | 11,200 |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,500 | 500 | 26,000 | 500 | 127,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 22,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 62,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 55,000 | 15,000 | 305,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 17,500 | 2,500 | 85,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,086,500 | 532,500 | 4,590,500 | 703,500 | 19,173,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | N/A* | 3,500 | 10,600 | 3,500 | 26,500 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 14,800 | N/A | 14,800 | 14,800 | |
*The U.S. Mint had temporarily sold out of Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins. Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins debuted this week.
