Gold futures declined in the mid-week trading session on Wednesday, ending at a one-month low and falling for a second day in a row.
Gold for April delivery settled down $12.60, or 1%, to $1,219.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The strength of the dollar is behind gold’s drop," Bloomberg News quoted Eugen Weinberg, the head of commodities research at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. "The reasons for the dollar are very compelling: the recent economic numbers are very good, and they speak for quicker tightening in the U.S."
The settlement price was the weakest since gold finished at $1,216.10 an ounce on Jan. 9. Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,218.20 to a high of $1,238.70. They fell on Tuesday by $9.30, or 0.7%.
Silver for March delivery declined 11 cents, or 0.7%, to close at $16.76 an ounce. The precious metal traded between $16.71 and $17.08. Silver prices in the prior session dropped 20 cents, or 1.2%.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
April platinum lost $11.70, or 1%, to $1,195.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,193 to $1,214.10.
- Palladium for March delivery edged up 85 cents, or 0.1%, to $766.55 an ounce, trading between $764.85 and $780.55.
London Fix Precious Metals
Excluding silver, earlier fixed London precious metals declined. In comparing London bullion Fix prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold fell $10.75, or 0.9%, to $1,223.75 an ounce,
- Silver added 15 cents, or 0.9%, to $16.95 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $16, or 1.3%, to $1,200 an ounce, and
- Palladium shed $5, or 0.6%, to $771 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in February
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Wednesday. Below are sales of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying time periods.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | January Sales | February Week | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 1,500 | 51,500 | 3,500 | 55,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 19,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36,000 | 0 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 20,000 | 115,000 | 25,000 | 140,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 3,500 | 34,500 | 5,500 | 40,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 752,000 | 637,000 | 5,530,000 | 1,389,000 | 6,919,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 600 | 0 | 600 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Everglades 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Coins with an asterisk (*) have sold out for 2014 with 2015-dated versions yet to be released.
