Most precious metals futures declined in the mid-week trading session Wednesday. Gold was the exception, logging a modest 0.2% increase.
Gold for June delivery climbed $2.90 to settle at $1,340.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Political (trade war) factors are offsetting the negative factors (for gold) of a generally improving U.S. and global economy," Reuters quoted Matthew Turner, commodities strategist at Macquarie. "We think gold is heading upwards largely because we have a weaker dollar view, but we think the range is going to hold for a while."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,335.20 to a high of $1,352.50. They declined 0.7% on Tuesday and advanced 1.5% on Monday.
Silver for May delivery lost 13.8 cents, or 0.8%, to end at $16.254 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.22 to $16.52. The dropped 1.7% on Tuesday and surged 2.5% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
July platinum declined $13.20, or 1.4%, to $918.10 an ounce, trading between $918.10 and $930.30.
- Palladium for June delivery fell $9.90, or 1.1%, to $917.90 an ounce, ranging from $910 to $929.15.
LBMA bullion prices are available on the LBMA website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:27 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 | March | This Week / April | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,500 | 0 | 43,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 95,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 28,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 285,000 | 915,000 | 210,000 | 5,302,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
