Gold extended its string of winning sessions to six and silver to eight on Wednesday. Gold’s rally is the longest since June 2012 and silver’s streak is the hottest since April 2011, according to Bloomberg News.
Gold for April delivery added $5.20, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,295 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The closing is the highest since gold prices settled at $1,308.50 an ounce on Nov. 7.
"Traders and investors on Wednesday were still buzzing about U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s inaugural testimony on monetary policy to the Congress Tuesday," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily note.
"The market place’s ‘take-away’ from Yellen’s comments is that she appears to be following closely in the footsteps of former Fed chairman Ben Bernanke, which is not surprising and does favor the dovish monetary policy camp. Yellen’s remarks were deemed friendly for the gold market and other raw commodity markets, as well as the U.S. stock market."
Gold prices on the day traded from a low of $1,283.90 to a high of $1,296.40.
Silver for March delivery climbed 19 cents, or 0.9%, to finish at $20.34 an ounce. The precious metal ranged from $20.08 to $20.39.
In PGM futures prices on Wednesday:
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April platinum gained $19.50, or 1.4%, to $1,407.30 an ounce, trading between $1,385 and $1,408.80. Platinum has gained for five consecutive sessions.
- Palladium for March delivery advanced $12.70, or 1.8%, to $729.05 an ounce, ranging from $716.50 to $729.90.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals logged gains as well. In contrasting the London fix prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold rose $7.50, or 0.6%, to $1,289.50 an ounce,
- Silver inched up 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $20.20 an ounce,
- Platinum jumped $23, or 1.7%, to $1,403 an ounce, and
- Palladium turned up $3, or 0.4%, to $722 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in February
Sales of United States Mint bullion coins remained unchanged from Tuesday. Below is the latest sales breakdown across all U.S. Mint bullion products.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Week-To-Date Sales | Sales Last Week | Feb Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 5,000 | 67,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 14,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 8,000 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 20,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 | 190,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 5,000 | 7,500 | 49,000 |
| American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 841,500 | 850,000 | 1,691,500 | 6,466,500 |
