The precious metals market saw mixed results on Wednesday, as silver and platinum posted gains while gold and palladium declined. Additionally, gold reached its lowest point in seven weeks and registered its fifth loss in six sessions.
Gold for June delivery fell by $8.10, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,984.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since March 29.
"A solid rebound in the U.S. dollar index that hit a six-week high today, and is trending higher, is a significantly bearish outside market element working against the metals market bulls at mid-week," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,978.10 and $1,997, after falling by 1.5% on Tuesday and edging 0.1% higher on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery inched up less than a half cent, or 0.2%, closing at $23.897 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $23.71 and $24.06 after sinking by 1.6% on Tuesday, for its lowest finish since March 29, and increasing by 0.6% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
July platinum added $15.70, or 1.5%, to $1,082.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,067.40 to $1,086.10.
- Palladium for June delivery fell by $14.70, or 1%, to $1,484.90, trading between $1,475.50 and $1,505.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
U.S. Mint published bullion sales were unchanged on Wednesday, following no gains on Tuesday and increases in gold and silver coins on Monday. The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | February | March | April | May | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 13,000 | 21,500 | 41,500 | 211,000 | 159,000 | 34,500 | 564,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 0 | 54,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,000 | 18,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 18,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 245,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 23,000 | 9,500 | 19,500 | 73,000 | 61,000 | 32,500 | 245,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 450,000 | 403,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 853,000 | 7,502,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 7,500 | 500 | 0 | 8,000 |
