For the third day in a row on Wednesday, precious metals declined in tandem. Palladium saw a 0.2% loss, while silver and platinum both dropped by 2%. Meanwhile, gold recorded its lowest finish in six and a half months.
Gold for December delivery fell by $28.90, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,890.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since March 10 when gold ended at $1,867.20 an ounce.
An up-trending U.S. dollar index that hit a 10-month high overnight and a 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield that scored a 16-year high this week are bearish outside market elements for the two precious metals," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
"A still-hawkish Fed continues to squelch the metals market bulls."
Gold futures traded between $1,890.30 and $1,921.70. They declined by 0.9% on Tuesday and they slipped by 0.5% on Monday.
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery tumbled by 47.2 cents to end at $22.724 an ounce. The close was the weakest since Aug. 17. Silver futures ranged from $22.64 and $23.12. They shed 0.8% on Tuesday and they dropped by 1.9% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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January platinum — the new, most-active contract — fell by $17.90 to $896.30 an ounce, trading between $890.90 and $918.80.
- Palladium for December delivery dipped by $2 to $1,223.70 an ounce, with prices ranging between $1,214.50 and $1,253.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
U.S. Mint bullion sales have remained unchanged since Wednesday, Sept. 13. 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 | Last Week | July | August | September | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 41,000 | 78,000 | 12,000 | 756,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 85,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 22,000 | 156,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150,000 | 35,000 | 570,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 16,500 | 19,500 | 15,500 | 328,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 209,100,000 | 3,124,000 | 1,502,000 | 16,441,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
The CEO of CostCo said these 1 ounce gold bars are selling for just $2000 and are selling out quickly. They only charge 1% over spot which is a good deal. CostCo really is an innovative company.
Craig,
I went to a Costco once with a friend who was a member (I was a member of Sam’s Club at the time) many years ago & was surprised to see a nice selection of high-quality gold jewelry & certified diamonds too. They aren’t your regular ‘big box store”, & like you basically referred to, they think outside the box for sure.
NumisdudeTX