Gold prices ended higher in the mid-week session on Wednesday, rising for a second day and changing by the biggest amount this week — but not by much.
Gold for December delivery rose $3.90, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,314.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"We saw a move upwards after the retail sales data, which is now correcting," Reuters quoted Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said. "We don’t see any data coming up, or any other news, which is really going to shake gold out of its trading band."
In another day of thin trading volume, gold ranged from a low of $1,306 to a high of $1,316.40. Prices have moved modestly this week, dipping 50 cents on Monday and adding 10 cents on Tuesday.
Down for a fourth time in five sessions, silver for September delivery lost 6 cents, or 0.3%, to end at $19.85 an ounce. Silver prices traded between $19.71 and $20.09. The precious metal gave back 19 cents on Tuesday after gaining 15 cents on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
October platinum declined $2.30, or 0.2%, to $1,469.90 an ounce, ranging from $1,463.50 to $1,477.30.
- Palladium for September delivery tacked on $3.60, or 0.4%, to $881.60 an ounce, trading between $875 and $882.95.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals declined. In contrasting the London bullion fix prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold lost $3.75, or 0.3%, to $1,312 an ounce,
- Silver fell 18 cents, or 0.9%, $19.90 an ounce,
- Platinum turned down $2, or 0.1%, to $1,471 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $2, or 0.2%, to $881 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in August
United States Mint bullion sales advanced Wednesday, registering gains of 200 ounces in platinum coins; 1,000 ounces in gold coins; and 175,000 ounces in silver coins. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Wednesday, last week, this week so far, last month, the month so far, and the year to date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Sales Last Week | Current Sales Week | July Sales | August Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 200 | 0 | 400 | 0 | 400 | 13,300 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 1,500 | 26,000 | 11,500 | 236,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 80,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 5,000 | 15,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 405,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 500 | 4,000 | 500 | 5,500 | 4,500 | 121,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 175,000 | 955,000 | 225,000 | 1,975,000 | 1,180,000 | 27,283,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 29,500 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 0 | 20,000 |
