At the start of the new trading month of November, prices for precious metals declined, with losses ranging from 0.3% for gold to 1.5% for platinum.
Down for a second day in a row following four straight gains, gold for December delivery declined by $6.80 to settle at $1,987.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Technically, December gold futures bulls have the overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a four-week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $2,050.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $1,950.00.," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,978.20 and $2,005.90. They fell 0.6% on Tuesday but still registered a 6.9% increase for the month of October. Additionally, they rose by 0.4% on Monday, ending at their highest price since July 31.
Falling for the seventh time in eight sessions, silver for December declined by 16.2 cents, or 0.7%, to end at $22.79 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $22.64 and $23.13. They dropped by 1.9% on Tuesday, trimming their October gain to 2.2%.
In other precious metals prices on Wednesday:
-
January platinum fell by $14.50 to $930.40 an ounce, ranging from $925.60 to $944.10.
- Palladium for December delivery shed $11.90, or 1.1%, to $1,114.20 an ounce, trading between $1,109 and $1,150.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Wednesday, the U.S. Mint adjusted its bullion sales for October, with reported gains totaling 5,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 632,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 3,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
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 | Last Week | August | September | October | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 7,500 | 78,000 | 27,500 | 97,000 | 869,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 3,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 13,000 | 7,000 | 95,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 30,000 | 18,000 | 182,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 150,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 605,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 3,000 | 4,500 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 36,500 | 367,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 632,000 | 1,019,000 | 3,124,000 | 2,970,000 | 3,938,000 | 21,847,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
