Gold and silver prices edged lower Wednesday, each sliding less than 0.1% in quieter, pre-holiday trading.
Gold for February delivery, the now most active contract, dipped 30 cents to end at $1,197.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"A dearth of bullish fundamental news recently and a bearish chart posture are keeping gold prices on the defensive. Some chart consolidation is also evident this week," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report.
"U.S. trading activity wound down as the day progressed Wednesday, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Typically, Friday finds one of the lightest-volume trading days of the year for U.S. markets," Wyckoff added.
Gold prices ranged from an intraday low of $1,194.60 to a high of $1,201.60. Prices climbed in the previous session by 0.1%.
In other precious metals futures on Wednesday:
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Silver for March delivery turned down a half-cent to $16.61 an ounce, trading between $16.56 and $16.72.
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January platinum rose $3.90, or 0.3%, to $1,228.40 an ounce, ranging from $1,219 to $1,231.40.
- Palladium for March delivery tacked on $6.15, or 0.8%, to $802.50 an ounce, trading between $791.60 and $805.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were mixed for a third day in a row. In contrasting London bullion Fix prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $1.50, or 0.1%, to $1,197.50 an ounce,
- Silver shed a nickel, or 0.3%, to $16.61 an ounce,
- Platinum added $8, or 0.7%, to $1,221 an ounce, and
- Palladium rose $1, or 0.1%, to $798 an ounce
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in November
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Wednesday. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold last week, last month, in November and the year to date. Coins with an asterisk (*) have sold out.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | October Sales | November Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 400 | 0 | 16,700 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 6,000 | 57,500 | 47,500 | 401,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 43,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 12,000 | 112,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 50,000 | 40,000 | 530,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 1,500 | 21,000 | 12,500 | 173,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,429,500 | 618,000 | 5,790,000 | 3,307,500 | 41,428,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 0 | 900 | 900 | 23,300 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22,000 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,100 | 0 | 4,200 | 1,700 | 17,900 |
| Everglades 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | N/A | 27,000 | 27,000 |
