Most precious metals gained Wednesday, led by a 3.8% increase in palladium. Gold was by itself with a loss, its third in a row. The precious metal ended at a fresh sixteen-week low.
Gold for June delivery dipped 40 cents, or less than 0.1%, to close at $1,276.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest for a most active contract since the close at $1,273 an ounce on Dec. 26.
"Some short covering in the futures market and some perceived bargain buying in the cash have limited the selling interest in both [silver and gold] markets today," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "However, the gold and silver bulls are still in technical trouble amid price downtrends in place on the daily bar charts."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,275.20 to a high of $1,282.10. They dropped 1.1% on Tuesday and declined 0.3% on Monday.
Silver for May delivery rose 2.4 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $14.939 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $14.88 and $15.06. They fell 0.4% on Tuesday and edged up less than 0.1% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
July platinum added $7.10, or 0.8%, to $891.30 an ounce, ranging from $882.20 to $895.30.
- Palladium for June delivery jumped $50.20 to $1,378.60 an ounce, trading between $1,328.90 and $1,383.30.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM
- Gold declined 50 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,275.85 an ounce.
- Silver rose 5.5 cent, or 0.4%, to $15 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. 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 | April | 2019 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 500 | 500 | 2,400 | 4,000 | 2,100 | 35,600 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 11,000 | 8,500 | 3,000 | 67,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 18,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 125,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 500 | 6,000 | 5,500 | 4,500 | 39,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,157,500 | 850,000 | 550,000 | 7,575,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 80,000 | 0 | 80,000 |
