Precious metals futures ended flat to slightly lower Wednesday. Gold dipped for a second straight session, moving further from the 1-month high reached on Monday, but remains higher on the week to date.
Gold for April delivery lost $1.90, or 0.2% to settle at $1,253.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"For the short term, it’s in a bit of a technical no-man’s land, we also see that seasonality is not really favorable," Bloomberg News quoted Ronald-Peter Stoeferle, managing partner at the Liechtenstein-based company. "The real pick up in momentum might start beginning of summer. It’s in the very early stages of the bull market, so everybody is still kind of cautious or slightly negative, but this will improve."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,246.90 to a high of $1,254.40. They shed a dime on Tuesday and climbed 0.6% on Monday when they ended at their highest level since Feb. 27. Gold prices are 0.4% higher so far this week. They have climbed 8.9% this year.
Following four straight session advances, silver for May delivery ended flat at $18.252 an ounce. The precious metal last posted a higher close on March 1 when prices settled at $18.489 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $18.05 and $18.26. They gained 0.8% on Tuesday and jumped 2% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
July platinum declined $4.40, or 0.5%, to $956.30 an ounce, ranging from $951.50 to $960.20.
- Palladium for June delivery fell $2.40, or 0.3%, to $790.20 an ounce, trading between $785 and $796.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $6.15, or 0.5%, to $1,251.10 an ounce.
- Silver added 19 cents, or 1.1% to $18.13 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 2017
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of 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 | Feb Sales | Mar Sales | 2017 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,500 | 1,000 | 21,000 | 15,500 | 123,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 42,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 35,000 | 190,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 15,000 | 7,000 | 54,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 795,000 | 25,000 | 1,215,000 | 1,320,000 | 7,662,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 200 | 19,500 | 200 | 19,700 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | |||||
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coin* | – | |||||
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coin* | – | |||||
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
