Precious metals fell for a fourth straight session on Wednesday, padding what were already hefty losses in August. Monthly declines for gold and silver were their fifth in a row. Further, silver ended the month at more than two-year low and gold marked about a five-week low.
Gold for December delivery fell $10.10, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,726.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since July 27.
"The gold futures bears have the solid overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a three-week-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $1,780.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at the July low of $1,686.30," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold prices shed 3.1% in August. They have now dropped a combined $227.80, or 11.7%, through the five monthly declines. The yellow metal is 5.6% lower on the year to date.
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery fell 40.5 cents, or 2.2%, to finish at $17.882 an ounce. The close was the weakest since June 24, 2020. Silver prices sank 11.5% this month, lifting their losses though the five months to $7.25, or 28.9%. They are 23.4% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Wednesday and for the month:
-
October platinum dipped $5.10, or 0.6%, to end at $827 an ounce, for a decline in August of 7.1%. The day’s settlement was the lowest since July 14.
- Palladium for December delivery shed $8.90, or 0.4%, to end at $2,078.90 an ounce, for a monthly decline of 2.4%.
The two are divided on the year so far with platinum down 14.4% and palladium ahead 8.7%.
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 | May | June | July | August | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 16,500 | 164,500 | 31,000 | 59,500 | 43,500 | 729,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 72,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50,000 | 135,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 540,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,500 | 56,000 | 21,500 | 39,500 | 17,500 | 316,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 425,000 | 1,350,000 | 925,000 | 850,000 | 850,000 | 12,406,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23,500 | 15,500 | 1,000 | 80,000 |
