Gold dropped for a fifth straight session Wednesday and ended at its lowest price in almost five weeks.
Gold for December delivery lost $2.80, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,268.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It traded from an intraday low of $1,265 to a high of $1,279.80. The closing price was the lowest since Oct. 11. News continues to focus on speculation that the Fed will tighten its money strings.
"Gold’s negative price reaction to the possibility of a December Fed tapering indicates to us that the bullion market is likely to remain sensitive to expectations for changes in monetary policy," Reuters quoted James Steel, chief metals analyst at HSBC.
Falling for the ninth time in ten sessions, silver for December delivery declined 34 cents, or 1.6%, to close at $20.44 an ounce. Prices ranged from $20.41 to $20.86.
In PGM futures prices on Wednesday:
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January platinum shed $7.60, or 0.5%, to $1,432 an ounce, ranging from $1,428.30 to $1,441.40. Platinum prices on Tuesday advanced $7.20.
- Palladium for December delivery declined $6.90, or 0.9%, to $735.45 an ounce, trading between $730.05 and $743.15. Like gold, palladium has fallen for five straight sessions.
London Fix Precious Metals
London bullion fixings were mostly lower. In contrasting Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM London fix prices:
- Gold declined $8.75, or 0.7%, to $1,272.50 an ounce,
- Silver fell 40 cents, or 1.9%, to $20.70 an ounce,
- Platinum edged up $1, or less than 0.1%, to $1,438 an ounce, and
- Palladium lost $6.50, or 0.9%, to $740 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Sales in November
U.S. Mint distributors ordered more gold bullion coins with sales of Gold Eagles up 4,000 ounces and Gold Buffalo coins up 1,000 ounces. The levels this week surpass those of last week. Still, coin news on the day continues to focus on the new Silver Eagle sales record.
U.S. Mint bullion sales for the day, the week so far and the year-to-date are listed below.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date Sales | November Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 4,000 | 7,500 | 10,000 | 20,500 | 666,500 |
| $25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 57,000 |
| $10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 116,000 |
| $5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 515,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 224,000 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | Sold Out | 35,000 | |||
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 600 | 600 | 26,800 |
| Great Basin 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 600 | 600 | 27,800 |
| Fort McHenry 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 400 | 1,400 | 29,600 |
| Mount Rushmore 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 19,100 | 25,100 | 25,100 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 500,000 | 500,000 | 1,000,000 | 40,175,000 |
