Precious metals fell sharply Wednesday following modest, prior-day gains. Gold ended at a one-month low while silver marked an eight-week low.
Gold for December delivery dropped $16.40, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,329.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since July 26.
“The selling continued and we saw a total of 40,000 contracts in a half-hour period trading down,” Reuters quoted Miguel Perez-Santalla, vice president of Heraeus Metal Management in New York. “The talk is that expectations are that the Fed, after the Jackson Hole meeting, will come out more hawkish than suspected.”
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is set to give a highly-anticipated speech on Friday at the annual economic policy symposium held in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,328.10 to a high of $1,344.10. They gained 0.2% on Tuesday.
Silver for September delivery fell 36.6 cents, or 1.9%, to settle at $18.556 an ounce. The settlement is the lowest since June 29. Silver futures ranged from $18.51 to $18.97. In the previous session, they climbed 0.3%.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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October platinum lost $29.10, or 2.6%, to $1,082.20 an ounce, trading between $1,078.70 and $1,114.70.
- Palladium for September delivery declined $17.35, or 2.5%, to $682.50 an ounce, ranging from $678.85 to $701.55.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $14.75, or 1.1%, to $1,327.25 an ounce.
- Silver fell 14 cents, or 0.7%, to $18.84 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 products logged gains of 6,000 ounces in gold coins, with splits of 3,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 2,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
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 | 2,500 | 5,000 | 6,000 | 30,000 | 37,500 | 473,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 51,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 4,000 | 100,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 5,000 | 5,000 | 15,000 | 50,000 | 50,000 | 605,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 2,500 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 10,000 | 7,500 | 130,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 255,000 | 430,000 | 1,370,000 | 1,010,000 | 28,630,500 |
| 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 | 400 | 500 | 0 | 900 | 35,100 |
