In normal trading hours Wednesday, precious metals bounced from prior-day losses with gains ranging from 0.4% for gold to 4.5% for palladium. They advanced further in after-hours trade when the Fed announced another hike in interest rates.
Gold for April delivery rose $8.50 to settle at $1,949.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold futures traded between $1,936.50 and $1,982.30. They dropped 2.1% on Tuesday and they gained 0.5% on Monday, closing at their best price since April 18.
Following a two-day monetary policy meeting, the Fed’s FOMC raised the benchmark federal-funds rate by 0.25% to a range between 4.75% and 5%, the highest level since September 2007.
In after-hours trade, gold moved above $1,971 an ounce.
Elsewhere, silver for May delivery tacked on 36.1 cents, or 1.6%, to end at $22.786 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since Feb. 2. Silver futures ranged from $22.41 and $23.24. They lost 1% on Tuesday and they moved up 0.8% on Monday. The precious metal was last above $23 an ounce in later, electronic trading.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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April platinum climbed $10.30, or 1.1%, to $987 an ounce, trading between $977.30 and $1,007.20.
- Palladium for June delivery rallied $62.60 to $1,445.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,360.50 to $1,461.50.
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 | 39,500 | 64,000 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 114,000 | 273,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 0 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 84,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 14,500 | 24,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 43,500 | 122,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 450,000 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 5,749,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | N/A | 7,200 | N/A | N/A | 7,200 | 7,200 |
