Precious metals futures declined on Wednesday, with silver and gold falling the most. Gold’s loss was its second in a row following four straight increases that had lifted prices to a five-week high.
Gold for June delivery — the new, most active contract — lost $17.90, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,330 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since last Thursday, March 22.
"A rebound in the U.S. dollar index at mid-week and an uptick in investor risk appetite today had the sellers of the metals in control," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report.
"There are mounting technical clues the U.S. stock indexes have put in major tops. Such would be a longer-term bullish development for the gold and silver markets, which are a competing asset class with equities," Wyckoff added.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,329.40 to a high of $1,352.20. For the most active contract, they declined 1% on Tuesday, and gained 0.4% on Monday to end at their best level since Feb. 16.
Silver for May delivery dropped 28.8 cents, or 1.7%, to end at $16.253 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.23 to $16.56. They declined 0.9% on Tuesday and rose 0.6% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
April platinum shed $5.90, or 0.6%, to $940.80 an ounce, trading between $938.80 and $953.60.
- Palladium for June delivery lost $8.60, or 0.9%, to $963.20 an ounce, ranging from $959.75 to $972.65.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $9, or 0.7%, to $1,332.45 an ounce.
- Silver dropped 18.5 cents, or 1.1%, to $16.455 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 2:48 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | February | March | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 2,500 | 43,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 95,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,500 | 1,000 | 27,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 195,000 | 285,000 | 942,500 | 915,000 | 5,092,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 |
