Gold, silver and platinum gained in the mid-week trading session Wednesday, while palladium declined.
Gold for June delivery rose $12.70, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,853.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold and silver prices are posting moderate gains near midday Wednesday, boosted by friendly outside markets that include a weaker U.S. dollar index and solid gains in crude oil prices,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note." Another hot U.S. inflation report that is seen as problematic for consumers and the economy is also longer-term friendly for the metals markets."
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices increased 0.3% in April from 1.2% in March, resulting in an annual inflation rate of 8.3% — still near 40-year highs.
"Today’s inflation report proves that Fed Chair Powell made a mistake last week when he removed the option of a 75-basis point rate hike at the next policy meeting," Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda, wrote in a note reported by MarketWatch. "The overall takeaway for much of Wall Street however is that the Fed is still poised to deliver consecutive half-point rate increases at the June and July FOMC meetings."
On the day, gold futures ranged from $1,830.60 to $1,857.80. They declined 1% on Tuesday, for their lowest settlement since Feb. 10, and they fell 1.3% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery added 15.1 cents, or 0.7%, to end at $21.575 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $21.20 and $21.97. They lost 1.8% on Tuesday, for their lowest settlement since July 20, 2020, and they dropped 2.5% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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July platinum tacked on $42.60, or 4.5%, to $989.80 an ounce, ranging from $942.80 to $991.70.
- Palladium for June delivery declined $35.80, or 1.8%, to $2,007.90 an ounce, trading between $1,997.50 and $2,075.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged on 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 | March | April | May | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 36,000 | 0 | 140,500 | 80,500 | 36,000 | 466,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 | 54,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 20,000 | 14,000 | 4,000 | 106,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 50,000 | 75,000 | 25,000 | 50,000 | 370,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 16,500 | 0 | 64,500 | 27,500 | 16,500 | 198,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 425,000 | 0 | 1,080,500 | 850,000 | 425,000 | 8,856,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14,200 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
