Precious metals futures declined in unison Wednesday. Gold and silver prices fell the most, registering respective losses of 1.3 and 1.8 percent.
Weighing down gold, opined analysts, were gains in the dollar, profit taking, and US inflation data which showed consumer prices rose only 0.1 percent in November.
"As economic activity looks to improve, that’s going to strengthen the dollar and hurt gold," Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago, said and was quoted on Bloomberg. "The inflation numbers also took gold down a little bit. If you’re buying these commodities to hedge against inflation, today’s data didn’t show that you were right in doing so yet."
New York precious metals closing prices follow:
- Gold prices for February delivery lost $18.10 to close at $1,386.20 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Prices ranged from $1,378.20 to $1,398.00.
- March silver prices declined 53.5 cents to $29.253 an ounce. They ranged from $28.735 to $29.645.
- Platinum prices for January delivery retreated $9.50, or 0.6 percent, to $1,704.40 an ounce. Platinum ranged between $1,690.00 and $1,711.40.
- Palladium prices for March delivery lost $15.55, or 2.0 percent to end at $752.65 an ounce. It ranged from $741.10 to $763.05.
In PM London gold prices, the benchmark gold Fix was $1,388.75 an ounce for a loss of $5.75. The silver fixing declined 82.0 cents to $29.060. Platinum was unchanged at $1,701.00. Palladium was $752.00 for a loss of $6.00.
In United States Mint bullion coins, for a second straight day the one-ounce Gold Eagles were the only coins in Mint’s bullion product line to advance. They improved 7,500 to 42,500 for the month.
The United States Mint did report opening day sales for the new five ounce America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins. Buyers ordered 75,000 of them on Friday. For more on that story, read 75,000 silver bullion coins sold.
| U.S. Mint 2010 Bullion Coin Sales | ||
|---|---|---|
| December* | 2010 Totals | |
| American Eagle Gold Coin (1 oz) | 42,500 | 1,127,000 |
| American Eagle Gold Coin (1/2 oz) | 0 | 45,000 |
| American Eagle Gold Coin (1/4 oz) | 0 | 60,000 |
| American Eagle Gold Coin (1/10 oz) | 5,000 | 390,000 |
| American Buffalo Coin (1 oz) | Sold Out | 209,000 |
| American Eagle Silver (1 oz) | 1,422,000 | 34,312,500 |
December sales have an "as of date" of December 15.
