Precious metals futures declined Wednesday after several scored milestone highs on Tuesday. Losses ranged from 05% for both gold and platinum to 0.9% for palladium.
Gold for December delivery slipped $5.70 to settle at $1,231.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The most important reason is a little bit of a rebound in the U.S. dollar, which has a negative effect on gold," Reuters quoted Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke. "On top of that, following a strong performance we had in gold in the past few days, this may be a little bit of profit taking, although this should not be the end of the recovery in gold."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,228.30 to a high of $1,236.80. They gained 1% on Tuesday — ending at their best price since July 16, and they declined 0.3% on Monday.
Silver for December fell 11.7 cents, or 0.8%, to finish at $14.676 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $14.66 and $14.83. They rose 1.4% on Tuesday — marking their highest settlement since Aug. 27, and they shed 0.4% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum lost $3.90 to $831.50 an ounce, ranging from $827.80 to $839.70.
- Palladium for December delivery declined $10.50 to $1,112.30 an ounce, trading between between $1,108.70 and $1,127.30 On Tuesday, they ended at an all-time record.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $5.40, or 0.4%, to 1,230.55 an ounce.
- Silver rose 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $14.745 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | September | October | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 4,000 | 14,500 | 17,000 | 168,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 26,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 58,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 | 10,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 0 | 11,000 | 5,000 | 113,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 200,000 | 200,000 | 2,897,500 | 1,330,000 | 13,465,000 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Voyageurs 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Cumberland Island 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,500 | 0 | 52,500 |
