Precious metals advanced in their start to the new trading month on Wednesday, posting gains ranging from 0.5% for gold to 2.9% for silver.
Gold for December delivery added $6.80 to settle at $1,277.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Short covering in the futures market and bargain hunting in the cash market were featured in both metals [gold and silver]," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily note.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,268.50 to a high of $1,281.90. They dipped 0.6% on Tuesday — ending the month of October 1.1% lower, and rose 0.5% on Monday.
Silver for December delivery surged 48.3 cents to settle at $17.176 an ounce. The settlement is the highest since Oct. 19. Silver futures ranged between $16.67 and $17.21. They declined 0.9% in the previous session, closing at their worst level since Oct. 5 but still logging a 0.1% gain in October. The precious metal climbed 0.6% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum advanced $17.10, or 1.9%, to $936.70 an ounce, trading between $919.90 and $939.40.
- Palladium for December delivery settled up $19, or 1.9%, to $998.15 an ounce, ranging from $977.85 to $1,000.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold rose $6.90, or 0.5%, to 1,277.05 an ounce.
- Silver added 12 cents, or 0.7%, to $16.94 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:27 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. 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 / November | Last Week | This Week | October | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 11,000 | 181,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 32,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 58,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 30,000 | 360,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 7,000 | 83,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 250,000 | 40,000 | 1,040,000 | 16,938,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
