Aside from gold which declined modestly, precious metals futures advanced Wednesday. Gold’s loss was its fourth in five sessions. Silver, meanwhile, climbed for a second day in a row and closed at an almost four-week high.
Gold for August delivery shed 80 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $1,301.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Although global trade fears remain a dominant market theme, the yellow metal clearly needs a fresh catalyst to accelerate the flight to safety," MarketWatch quoted Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM, in a note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,297.70 to a high of $1,306.10. They added 0.4% on Tuesday and dipped 0.2% on Monday, ending at their lowest price since May 23.
Silver for July delivery tacked on 15.1 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $16.694 an ounce — its best close since May 11. Silver futures traded between $16.50 and $16.77. They rose 0.7% on Tuesday and declined less than 0.1% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
July platinum gained $6.30, or 0.7%, to $907.60 an ounce, ranging from $900.80 to $909.10.
- Palladium for September delivery rallied $29.50, or 3%, to $1,015.20 an ounce, trading between $982.70 and $1,019.30.
London Precious Metals Prices
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 moved up by a combined 6,000 ounces in American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins and by 50,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
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 / June | April | May | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 5,500 | 6,000 | 5,500 | 4,000 | 18,500 | 71,500 |
| $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 | 18,000 | 44,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 115,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 16,500 | 52,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 50,000 | 0 | 100,000 | 915,000 | 380,000 | 6,487,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
