Prices for gold, silver, and platinum declined for a second straight session on Wednesday, while palladium edged higher.
Gold for December delivery fell by $3.80, or 0.2%, closing at $1,975 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Early safe-haven buying of the precious metals following a surprise downgrade of U.S. government debt gave way to selling pressure from a rally in the U.S. dollar index to a three-week high, a rise in U.S. Treasury yields and a sell off in the crude oil market," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Later Tuesday, Fitch Ratings announced it had downgraded the U.S. government’s long term credit rating to AA+ from AAA.
Gold futures traded between $1,969.10 and $1,992.20, falling by 1.5% on Tuesday and climbing by 0.5% on Monday to register the highest settlement since May 15 and log an increase in July of 4.1%.
Elsewhere, silver for September slipped by 45.4 cents, or 1.9%, to end at $23.872 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $23.76 to $24.63, after dropping by 2.6% on Tuesday and rising by 2% on Monday to score the best close since July 19 and mark a 8.5% gain in July.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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October platinum shed $10, or 1.1%, to $930.40 an ounce, trading between $925.70 and $943.90.
- Palladium for September delivery rose by $4.70, or 0.4%, to $1,241.80 an ounce, ranging from $1,223 to $1,253.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Wednesday, the U.S. Mint did not publish any new sales for the week, but it did adjust its sales for July. 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 / This Week | May | June | July | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 60,500 | 35,000 | 41,000 | 666,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 32,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 80,000 | 60,000 | 0 | 385,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 47,000 | 17,000 | 16,500 | 293,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,593,000 | 1,482,000 | 209,100,000 | 11,815,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 1,200 | 3,500 | 0 | 12,700 |
