Gold futures moved higher Wednesday for a third straight session and closed at a more than one-week high.
Gold for February delivery gained $2.10, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,140.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since Dec. 19.
"In the short term, we are focused towards support at $1,100 and a break of this will be very bearish for the metal," Reuters quoted Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets. "As for the upside, we really need to break the level of $1,170 and $1,200."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,137.10 to a high of $1,145.10. They climbed 0.5% in their start Tuesday to the holiday-shortened trading week.
Ending higher for a second straight day after falling for three sessions in a row, silver for March delivery added 4.9 cents, or 0.3%, to $16.038 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.86 and $16.14. They advanced 1.5% on Tuesday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
April platinum declined $3.70, or 0.4%, to $902.20 an ounce, ranging from $894.10 to $910.30.
- Palladium for March delivery lost $6.95, or 1%, to $666.85 an ounce, trading between $665.50 and $679.15.
London Precious Metals Prices
London markets had been closed since Friday. In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Friday to Wednesday PM:
- Gold added $3.60, or 0.3%, to $1,134.60 an ounce.
- Silver added 11 cents, or 0.7%, to $15.85 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Wednesday as of 3:08 p.m. ET. The Mint’s most popular 2016-dated bullion coins sold out in early December. New 2017-dated coins launch on Jan. 9.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday / This Week | Last Week | Nov Sales | Dec Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | – | 20,000 | |||
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins* | – | 129,000 | 23,000 | 817,500 | |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 3,000 | 74,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins* | – | 18,000 | 2,000 | 152,000 | |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins* | – | 105,000 | 40,000 | 925,000 | |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 29,500 | 12,500 | 219,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 3,061,000 | 240,000 | 37,701,500 | |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 105,000 | |||
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 75,000 | |||
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 100 | 38,100 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 6,600 | 800 | 40,000 | |
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 27,800 | 0 | 27,800 |
