Precious metals were little changed Wednesday with gold rising slightly and silver, platinum and palladium falling very modestly.
Gold for June delivery added $8.30, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,784.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold "seems stuck spinning its wheels between $1,700 and $1,800 at the moment," MarketWatch quoted Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management.
Near term, "with economies tracking toward wider re-openings, the biggest potential catalyst for gold may be if we get another rally in commodities that causes inflation to spike."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,769.30 to a high of $1,785.70. They shed 0.9% on Tuesday and they climbed 1.4% on Monday, registering their best finish since April 21.
Silver for May delivery gave back 3.6 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $26.522 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $26.16 and $26.71. They fell 1.5% on Tuesday and they soared 4.2% on Monday, marking their highest close since Feb. 25.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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July platinum dipped $3, or 0.2%, to $1,228.80 an ounce, ranging from $1,214.50 to $1,245.
- Palladium for June delivery declined $4.80, or 0.2%, to $2,972.80 an ounce, trading between $2,952.50 and $3,010. On Monday, palladium ended at a record settlement of $2,981.40 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged Wednesday. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint 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 / This Week | Last Week | February Sales | March Sales | April Sales | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,500 | 121,000 | 55,500 | 38,500 | 406,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 9,000 | 0 | 0 | 31,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,000 | 0 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 16,000 | 33,500 | 11,000 | 122,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,191,500 | 4,087,000 | 1,053,000 | 13,106,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 35,000 | 0 | 35,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 50,000 | 50,000 |
