Gold futures settled lower on Wednesday for the first time in four sessions, then fell further when minutes from the Fed’s last meeting in April showed that a rate hike in June was on the table.
Gold for June delivery shed $2.50, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,274.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures traded from a low of $1,266 to a high of $1,283.50. In electronic trading after the minutes were released, gold prices were near $1,258 an ounce.
"The FOMC minutes reflected a more-hawkish tone than the post-meeting policy statement had indicated," MarketWatch quoted Brien Lundin, editor of Gold Newsletter. "Gold took the information bearishly, and some sell-stops have been hit to exacerbate the selling."
Silver for July delivery dropped 11.8 cents, or 0.7%%, to settle at $17.132 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $16.92 to $17.32. The white metal fell below $16.90 an ounce in after-hours trade.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
July platinum declined $12, or 1.1%, to $1,042.50 an ounce, trading between $1,027.20 and $1,059.20.
- Palladium for June delivery lost $5, or 0.9%, to $579.60 an ounce, ranging from $572.85 to $586.55.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $4.10, or 0.3%, to $1,272.90 an ounce.
- Silver declined 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $17.05 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
U.S. Mint bullion sales posted gains that included 14,000 ounces in gold coins and 867,500 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
The U.S. Mint this week allocated sales of American Silver Eagles to 1 million coins. Distributors order 86.8% of them through Wednesday. 2016 Silver Eagles are at a record sales pace of 21,840,000 coins, representing a 34.6% increase over the same time in record year 2015.
Below is a sales breakdown of United States Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods of time.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday / This Week | Last Week | Mar Sales | Apr Sales | May Sale | 2016 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 10,000 | 9,000 | 29,000 | 93,500 | 30,000 | 309,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 6,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 9,000 | 45,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 14,000 | 0 | 66,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 75,000 | 55,000 | 10,000 | 385,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 3,500 | 7,000 | 19,500 | 11,000 | 90,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 867,500 | 972,500 | 4,106,000 | 4,072,000 | 2,925,500 | 21,840,000 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 64,000 | 0 | 64,000 |
Mike Unser –
The Mint’s 13 worldwide bullion coin Authorized Purchasers left about 30,000 silver American Eagle coins unsold last week & on many weeks recently. The APs also have not purchased a single ATB 5-ounce bullion Shawnee or Cumberland coin in the entire month of May! The market is oversaturated with the 5-ounce pucks. Some dealers are offering them at around $90 to dump them!
-NumisDudeTX
The Mint’s newest product was offered today at noon. The 2016 Mint Set.
-NumisDudeTX