Prices for precious metals divided on Wednesday, with gold and silver rising and platinum and palladium falling. Gains in gold and silver were their fourth in a row, with each also registering another round of settlement highs – approximately 3.3 years for gold and just over 6.5 months for silver.
Gold for February delivery rose by $6.90, or 0.3%, to settle at $2,067.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For a second day, the settlement was the highest since Aug. 6, 2020, when gold ended at $2,069.40 an ounce.
"The bulls have the firm overall near-term technical advantage. Prices are in a seven-week-old uptrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls’ next upside price objective is to produce a close above solid resistance at $2,100.00. Bears’ next near-term downside price objective is pushing futures prices below solid technical support at $2,000.00," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $2,055.90 and $2,072.70. They climbed by 1.3% on Tuesday and they increased by 0.5% on Monday.
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery tacked on 14.1 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $25.443 an ounce. The settlement was the highest for silver since May 10 when it closed at $25.658 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $25.24 to $25.68. They moved ahead on Tuesday by 1.1% and they gained 1.4% on Monday.
In PGM futures prices on Wednesday:
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January platinum fell by $8.80, or 0.9%, to $941.40 an ounce, ranging from $929.60 to $954.70.
- Falling for a second session, palladium for March delivery lost $27.80, or 2.6%, to $1,041.50 an ounce, trading between $1,029 and $1,078.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Wednesday, the U.S. Mint reported increased bullion sales for the third time this month, with new gains totaling 15,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 939,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 1,500 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 / This Week | Last Week | August | September | October | November | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 12,500 | 0 | 78,000 | 27,500 | 97,000 | 35,000 | 904,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 13,000 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 101,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 30,000 | 18,000 | 14,000 | 196,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 0 | 150,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 55,000 | 660,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,500 | 0 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 36,500 | 11,500 | 379,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 939,000 | 0 | 3,124,000 | 2,970,000 | 3,938,000 | 2,378,000 | 24,225,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
