Gold and silver prices declined on Wednesday while platinum and palladium advanced. Palladium’s gain was its seventh in a row. The metal also notched its highest settlement since early September.
Gold for February delivery lost $22.80, or 1.2%, to end at $1,829.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Bulls still have the overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a six-week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at the November high of $1,881.90. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,800.00,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,822.80 to a high of $1,850.20. They tacked on 0.6% on Tuesday and marked their best settlement since Nov. 18. Gold prices rose 0.5% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery shed 8.9 cents, or 0.4%, to settle at $23.807 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $23.62 and $24.03. They gained 0.4% on Tuesday and they lost 2.1% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
April platinum added $20.40, or 2%, to $1,045.90 an ounce, ranging from $1,024.40 to $1,064.60.
- Palladium for March delivery soared $161.70, or 7.4%, to $2,350.60 an ounce, trading between $2,173 and $2,380. The settlement was the highest since Sept. 7 when palladium ended at $2,353.50 an ounce.
"Geopolitical drama with Russia is causing real concern as to the future supply of palladium," MarketWatch quoted Chris Blasi, president of Neptune Global.
"An all-out conflict with Russia would exasperate an already critical supply issue in the palladium space," and would likely drive palladium "well north of $4,000 per ounce," he said.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States 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.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | December | 2021 Sales | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 22,500 | 41,000 | 1,115,500 | 110,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 95,000 | 45,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 2,000 | 162,000 | 62,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 490,000 | 180,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 11,000 | 10,500 | 350,500 | 53,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000,000 | 0 | 28,275,000 | 4,501,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 | 0 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 | 0 |
