In precious metals trading Wednesday, gold climbed to a six-week high while silver, platinum and palladium declined.
Gold for April delivery tacked on $20.40, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,931.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Feb. 1.
"It’s a total safe-haven trade. There’s a lot of concern about Credit Suisse and now European banks are really coming under quite a bit of pressure. So it’s a complete flight to safety," Reuters quoted Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago.
Gold futures traded between $1,889.50 and $1,942.50. They shed 0.3% on Tuesday and they gained 2.5% on Monday.
Elsewhere, silver for May delivery fell 15.8 cents, or 0.7%, to end at $21.882 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $21.60 to $22.53. They rose 0.5% on Tuesday, registering their highest close since Feb. 10, and they soared 6.9% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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April platinum lost $27, or 2.7%, to $970.30 an ounce, trading between $953 and $997.70.
- After ending at their highest price since Feb. 21, palladium for June delivery tumbled $72.90, or 4.8%, to $1,444.80 an ounce, ranging from $1,415 to $1,516.50. Last Wednesday, palladium at $1,363.10 an ounce logged its lowest settlement since June 7, 2019.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
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 | January Sales | February | March | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,500 | 39,500 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 50,000 | 209,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 84,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,500 | 14,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 19,000 | 97,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 450,000 | 0 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 450,000 | 5,299,000 |
