Precious metals advanced together for a second straight day Wednesday. Both platinum and palladium rallied. Gold’s gain, while modest, was its third in a row.
Gold for December delivery inched up 60 cents, or 0.03%, to settle at $1,778.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"This afternoon’s statement from the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee (FOMC) was deemed mostly neutral on U.S. monetary policy and actually rallied the gold market, initially. However, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s upbeat remarks on the U.S. economy and jobs-growth prospects dented the gold bulls’ enthusiasm as the U.S. dollar index rallied to its daily high while Powell was giving his press conference,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,769.60 to a high of $1,787. They were last below $1,765 in after-hours trade. They climbed 0.8% on Tuesday and they rose 0.7% on Monday.
Silver for December delivery tacked on 29.6 cents, or 1.3%, to close at $22.907 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $22.45 and $23.08. They gained 1.8% on Tuesday and they dipped 0.65% on Monday, logging their worst settlement since July 21, 2020.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
October platinum surged $50.30, or 5.3%, to $1,001.10 an ounce, ranging from $945.40 to $1,009.30.
- Palladium for December delivery soared $141.70, or 7.5%, to $2,036.20 an ounce, trading between $1,884 and $2,060.50. On Monday, the posted their lowest finish since June 25, 2020.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
Published United States Mint bullion sales increased Wednesday by a combined 6,000 ounces in gold coins.
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 | August | September | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 29,500 | 18,500 | 112,000 | 67,500 | 813,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 1,000 | 21,000 | 4,000 | 81,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 34,000 | 8,000 | 128,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 | 50,000 | 35,000 | 365,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 5,500 | 8,500 | 27,500 | 24,000 | 259,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,500,000 | 485,000 | 3,930,000 | 2,735,000 | 25,675,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
“Precious Metals Settle Higher“—————————————-
Doubtful this will be the headline describing today’s performance, with Gold down nearly $18/oz. as of 10:00 a.m. EST.