Precious metals prices retreated Wednesday, recording losses that ranged from 0.6% for silver to 1.7% for palladium.
Gold for August delivery declined by $23.10, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,958.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The fact that the debt ceiling crisis was resolved without a default did indeed deflate prices somewhat. However, the intermediate short-term prices will likely remain locked in the $1,950 -$2,000 range as the market eyes the next Fed move," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital, in a note to clients, according to MarketWatch.
Gold futures traded between $1,955.40 and $1,986.50, after rising by 0.4% on Tuesday and climbing by 0.2% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery shed 14.1 cents to settle at $23.529 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $23.48 to $24.17, after edging nearly 0.2% higher on Tuesday and falling by 0.5% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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July platinum dropped by $14.10, or 1.4%, to $1,024.60 an ounce, trading between $1,022.30 and $1,051.80.
- Palladium for September delivery fell by $23.90 to $1,387.90 an ounce, ranging from $1,379.50 to $1,417.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
U.S. Mint published bullion sales have been unchanged so far this month. 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 / Week / June | Last Week | February | March | April | May | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 41,500 | 211,000 | 159,000 | 60,500 | 590,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 72,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 14,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 32,000 | 146,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 80,000 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 80,000 | 325,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,500 | 19,500 | 73,000 | 61,000 | 47,000 | 259,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 693,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 1,593,000 | 8,242,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 1,200 | N/A | 7,500 | 500 | 1,200 | 9,200 |
So far there is no indication that palladium is going to make up much if any of the ground it lost in its current value disparity between itself and gold. Gold is once again the king.