Precious metals declined in regular trade hours Wednesday, then climbed modestly in electronic trading after minutes from the Fed’s last meeting showed mixed opinions over the pace of interest rate hikes.
Ending lower for the first time in three sessions, gold for December delivery declined $8.10, or 0.6%, to $1,348.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,340.50 to a high of $1,353.60. On Tuesday, they closed at their highest point since Aug. 2.
In electronic trading after the minutes were released, gold prices were near $1,351 an ounce.
"In the short term, gold could move lower due to lack of liquidity especially if large institutional sellers decide to sell in volume," MarketWatch quoted Mark O’Byrne, a director at GoldCore in Dublin. "However, the set up is quite bullish as we enter the fall, with autumn being a good period for gold seasonally," he said.
Also snapping a two-session win streak, silver for September delivery lost 22.6 cents, or 1.1%, to $19.648 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $19.37 and $19.90. The white metal was near $19.72 an ounce in after-hours trade.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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October platinum fell $9.40, or 0.8%, to $1,114.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,106.30 to $1,127.90.
- Palladium for September delivery declined $13.40, or 1.9%, to $691.70 an ounce, trading between $687 and $703.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold dipped 65 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,343.35 an ounce.
- Silver sank 46.5 cents, or 2.3%, to $19.57 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
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:47 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday Sales | Last Week | This Week | July Sales | Aug Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19,000 | 0 | 19,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 21,500 | 0 | 30,000 | 26,500 | 462,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 49,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 96,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 25,000 | 0 | 50,000 | 30,000 | 585,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,500 | 0 | 10,000 | 3,500 | 126,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 250,000 | 55,000 | 1,370,000 | 380,000 | 28,000,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 200 | 0 | 200 | 34,400 |
