Precious metals declined on Tuesday, retreating more than their gains on Monday when gold scored its best settlement in 11-months and silver logged a 1.5-month high.
Gold for April delivery dropped $41.70, or 2.1%, to end at $1,941.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Heavy profit-taking pressure and position evening from the futures traders is featured ahead of the U.S. interest rate decision Wednesday afternoon. Also negative for gold and silver on this day is trader and investor risk appetite that has up-ticked just a bit," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Tuesday morning, the Fed’s FOMC kicked off its two-day meeting about monetary policy. Many expect the meeting to end with a 0.25% increase in the benchmark funds rate, while some expect a pause in interest rate hikes due to banking fears.
Gold futures traded between $1,939.60 and $1,988.70. They rose 0.5% on Monday, closing at their best price since April 18.
Elsewhere, silver for May delivery settled down 22.1 cents, or 1%, to $22.425 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $22.29 and $22.79. They moved up 0.8% on Monday, marking their highest finish since Feb. 2.
In other precious metals prices Tuesday:
-
April platinum fell $20.10, or 2%, to $976.70 an ounce, trading between $966.90 and $1,008.
- Palladium for June delivery declined $17.50, or 1.3%, to $1,383.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,375.50 to $1,412.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Tuesday, published United States Mint bullion sales contained a first entry for the 2023 American Platinum Eagle. Altogether, U.S. Mint bullion gains included:
- 7,200 ounces in American Platinum Eagles,
- 64,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles,
- 24,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos, and
- 450,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday / This Week | Last Week | January Sales | February | March | 2023 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 7,200 | N/A | N/A | N/A | 7,200 | 7,200 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 64,000 | 39,500 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 114,000 | 273,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 84,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 24,500 | 14,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 43,500 | 122,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 450,000 | 0 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 5,749,000 |
Are you surprised by Palladiums descent in price? Isn’t it’s main use in catalytic convertors put on those evil and disgusting combustion engine vehicles.You know, the gas cars and trucks that are destroying our planet. With everyone out buying EV’s, I suppose the demand for Palladium will continue to decline.On the bright side, maybe I’ll be able to snag one of those APdE’s before too long!
The power charging stations at your local grocery store.
… or like this
You’ll get no criticism from me, Kaiser, as I love my dependable cars powered by gas. I think developing EV’s is a good thing and would work better in congested urban areas where one doesn’t have to drive far. Since there has been an increase of car thefts specific to catalytic converters in cities, having a EV would eliminate that possibility. It’s reported some criminals can cut a CC from a car in under 1.5 minutes. Talk about starting your day off in a bad way! On the dark side of EV’s is the amount of mining one would have… Read more »
Only “Magic” Mike is floating that rumor to spur
suckersbuyers into buying his $599 fractional set of Fiji silver eagles. Apparently Fiji silver is a lot more valuable than elsewhere.The big issue facing EV’s besides where the “juice” will come from not to mention the minerals needed to make the batteries is disposal of damaged batteries and the cost to replace them.
Since there is no current way to repair damaged batteries Insurance companies are totaling EV cars involved in even minor accidents if the battery is damaged. As a result the insurance on an EV is ~$200 more than for an equivalently priced traditional vehicle and junk yards are going to fill up with EV’s and batteries that they can’t environmentally dispose of with current tech.
Can’t they recycle those batteries into composite boards for decking? I was hoping those prices would come down some as I will be replacing my wood with composite this year.
LOL. I Think not…maybe paving stones.
BTW I replaced my old wood deck with composite and the wood railing with metal two years ago. Best thing I ever did.
It’s a metal, isn’t it?