Gold Falls to 1-Month Low, Silver Ends at 1-Week Low

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Silver bars, three side-by-side
Precious metals sank Wednesday

Precious metals futures tumbled in the mid-week trading session Wednesday. Losses ranged from 2% for gold to 3.9% for silver.

Gold for April delivery fell $24.60 to close at $1,224 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the weakest since Feb. 26 when prices ended at $1,220.40 an ounce.

"The safe-haven metal was shunned on this day as worldwide investor and trader risk appetite has up-ticked at mid-week," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Also, the key ‘outside markets’ were in a bearish posture for the precious metals today, as the U.S. dollar index was higher and crude oil prices were lower."

Gold prices traded from a low of $1,215.40 to a high of $1,249.80.

Silver for May delivery sank 61.3 cents to settle at $15.272 an ounce, the lowest close in a week. Silver prices ranged from $15.24 to $15.94.

In rounding out the precious metals complex:

  • April platinum declined $36, or 3.6%, to $960.80 an ounce, trading between $957.50 and $1,002.

  • Palladium for June delivery fell $22.50, or 3.7%, to $583.10 an ounce, ranging from $580.10 to $608.

London Precious Metals Prices

In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:

  • Gold declined $34.90, or 2.8%, to $1,217.60 an ounce.
  • Silver declined 31 cents, or 2%, to $15.58 an ounce.

LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2016

U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged Wednesday but figures were revised upward later on Tuesday. Those gains included 4,000 ounces in gold coins and 291,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.

The U.S. Mint this week limited sales of Silver Eagles to 1 million. Distributors ordered 94.3% of them through Wednesday, leaving 57,500 left until more become available next week. Their cumulative total for the year at 13,942,500 coins is 25% higher than through the same time in record year 2015.

Below is a sales breakdown of United States Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods of time.

US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins)
Wednesday Sales Tuesday Sales Last Week This Week Jan Sales Feb Sales Mar Sales 2016 Sales
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins 0 3,000 5,500 3,000 89,000 67,500 21,000 177,500
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins 0 0 0 0 23,000 6,000 1,000 30,000
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins 0 0 0 0 36,000 12,000 4,000 52,000
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins 0 0 15,000 15,000 145,000 100,000 50,000 295,000
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins 0 1,000 2,000 1,000 34,000 19,000 5,000 58,000
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins 0 291,000 1,000,000 942,500 5,954,500 4,782,000 3,206,000 13,942,500
2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins 0 0 0 0 N/A 105,000 0 105,000

 

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