In futures trading Wednesday, gold and silver declined slightly while palladium dropped sharply for a second straight session after scoring a record on Monday. Platinum, meanwhile, was alone with its daily gain.
Gold for February delivery shed $1.90, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,478.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The strength of the dollar is weighing on gold, coupled with the fact that the trade deal has removed the urge to get into safe havens like gold or yen," Reuters quoted Edward Meir, analyst at ED&F Man Capital Markets.
"We are kind of watching the paint dry… Big and complex issues are deferred and even the Phase 1 (U.S.-China trade) deal is not completely nailed down yet."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,474.30 to a high of $1,483.60. They edged 0.01% higher on Tuesday and they dipped 0.05% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery settled down 2.3 cents, or 0.1%, to $17.049 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.93 and $17.13. They declined 0.2% on Tuesday and they rose 0.6% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum added $5.90, or 0.6%, to $935.70 an ounce, ranging from $925.40 to $938.
- Palladium for March delivery fell $22.40, or 1.2%, to $1,896.20 an ounce, trading between $1,889.90 and $1,928.30. On Monday, they settled at a record of $1,963.60 an ounce.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed LBMA gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $1.75, or 0.1%, to $1,474.05 an ounce.
- Silver fell 6.5 cents, or 0.4%, to $16.995 an ounce.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
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. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | November | December | 2019 Sales | |
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 108,000 |
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 38,000 |
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195,000 |
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 5,000 | 1,500 | 61,500 |
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 14,863,500 |
Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 |
San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,200 |
War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72,500 |
American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | ||||
$100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 |