Gold, silver and palladium kicked off the new trading month and fourth quarter with decent gains after tumbling last month and in the third quarter. And physical demand for bullion continues to impress with United States Mint coin sales racing.
Gold for December delivery turned up $3.90, or 0.3%, to close at $1,215.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The economic report pace picked up Wednesday and is highlighted by Friday’s U.S. employment report. The batch of U.S. date released Wednesday was mixed but mostly downbeat, which helped to pressure the stock market, which in turn helped give a lift to safe-haven gold," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report.
Gold traded from a low of $1,205 to a high of $1,220. On Tuesday, gold ended September and the quarter with losses of 5.9% and 8.4%.
Silver for December delivery rose 20 cents, or 1.2%, to end at $17.26 an ounce. Prices ranged from an intraday low of $16.87 to a high of $17.44.
PGM futures were mixed on Wednesday:
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January platinum fell $10.90, or 0.8%, to $1,289.60 an ounce, trading between $1,263.60 and $1,306.60.
- Palladium for December delivery added $9.40, or 1.2%, to $784.55 an ounce, ranging from $763.90 to $785.45.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals ranged from flat to lower. In contrasting the London bullion Fix prices and the LBMA Silver Price from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold was unchanged at $1,216.50 an ounce,
- Silver fell 7 cents, or 0.4%, to $17.04,
- Platinum declined $23, or 1.8%, at $1,277 an ounce, and
- Palladium was unchanged at $775 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in October
United States Mint bullion coins extended sharp sales gains into the first day of October that started with multi-month highs in September. In an impressive start to the month:
- Platinum coins rose 400 ounces,
- Gold coins jumped 5,500 ounces, and
- Silver coins soared 1,152,500 ounces
Most notable, bullion American Silver Eagles have already posted a gain of 2.24 million since Friday, which is handily the strongest level for any week since the 2014-dated versions launched in mid-January.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Wednesday, last week, this week, last month, and the year to date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | September Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 400 | 200 | 2,500 | 2,700 | 16,700 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 2,500 | 10,000 | 8,500 | 50,500 | 298,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 33,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 8,000 | 92,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 30,000 | 440,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 2,500 | 5,000 | 4,000 | 14,500 | 142,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 1,150,000 | 1,290,000 | 2,240,000 | 4,140,000 | 33,401,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 3,500 | 33,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 0 | 1,000 | 21,500 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 300 | 0 | 800 | 22,000 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 500 | 1,200 | 800 | 4,500 | 12,500 |
