Gold snapped a two-session winning streak on Wednesday as the dollar rallied and report from the US Labor Department showed a modest inflation increase in September.
Gold for December delivery shed $6.20, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,245.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Lack of inflation and strength in the dollar has put a damper on gold purchases in the near term," Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at Archer Financial Services in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News.
Gold traded from $1,241.60 to $1,250.20. The precious metal on the week so far is up about 0.5%. Gold prices hit a five-week high on Tuesday.
Silver for December delivery tumbled 32 cents, or 1.8%, to end at $17.23 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $17.14 to $17.54.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum fell $11.90, or 0.9%, to $1,271.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,265.90 to $1,284.
- Palladium for December delivery added 70 cents, or 0.1%, to $776.70 an ounce, trading between $770.50 and $784.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were mixed. When comparing London bullion Fix prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $6.50, or 0.5%, to $1,243.75 an ounce,
- Silver was unchanged at $17.36,
- Platinum fell $11, or 0.9%, to $1,270 an ounce, and
- Palladium rose $3, or 0.4%, to $774 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in October
United States Mint bullion coin sales were unchanged Wednesday as of 3:20 p.m. ET. Bullion sales jumped on Tuesday. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on last week, this week so far, last month, in October, and the year to date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | September Sales | October Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | N/A* | 2,700 | 400 | 16,700 | ||
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 6,500 | 7,000 | 50,500 | 42,000 | 338,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 38,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 8,000 | 8,000 | 100,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 30,000 | 35,000 | 475,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 14,500 | 19,000 | 158,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 580,000 | 715,000 | 4,140,000 | 3,815,000 | 36,066,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,500 | 0 | 33,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 400 | 1,000 | 400 | 21,900 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 800 | 0 | 22,000 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,500 | 1,400 | 4,500 | 4,200 | 16,200 |
*The U.S. Mint stopped selling bullion Platinum Eagles on Oct. 1. The agency will begin selling 2015-dated issues in early January.
To see how inflation has changed the buying power of the U.S. dollar over time, use this site’s Inflation Calculator.
