In the precious metals market on Wednesday, gold remained relatively unchanged, edging up slightly, while silver, platinum, and palladium declined.
Gold for April delivery settled up 30 cents to $2,051.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"It’s a quieter marketplace at mid-week, with no new fundamental developments to significantly influence the markets. Risk appetite in the general marketplace is not robust, but neither is risk aversion keen. That’s keeping the safe-haven metals traders squelched at present. Metals traders are looking for a new spark to drive daily price action," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $2,046.40 and $2,061.30, rising 0.4% on Tuesday but giving back 0.5% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery shed 11.8 cents, or 0.5%, ending at $22.36 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $22.29 to $22.54. They edged up by 0.3% on Tuesday and they slipped by 1.6% on Monday.
In other precious metals prices on Wednesday:
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April platinum fell by $24.10, or 2.7%, to $886.90 an ounce, trading between $884.70 and $914.80.
- Palladium for March delivery dropped by $51.10, or 5.4%, to $900.30 an ounce, ranging from $897 to $957.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
On Wednesday, for the first time this month, the U.S. Mint reported bullion sales gains, including 5,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 850,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 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 / Week / February | Last Week | January | 2024 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 3,000 | 16,500 | 87,500 | 90,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 46,000 | 46,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 20,000 | 25,000 | 115,000 | 135,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 8,000 | 46,500 | 47,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 850,000 | 0 | 4,900,000 | 5,750,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
