Gold and silver futures edged higher Wednesday for their seventh pair of gains in eight sessions, with each notching a new, about three-week high.
Gold for August delivery added a dime, or 0.008%, to finish at $1,242 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since June 30.
"The gold bulls are encouraged their market has shown resilience this week, in the face of generally higher world stock markets including U.S. stock indexes that are at or near record highs," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily note. "A main bullish input for the precious metals markets has been a seriously eroding U.S. dollar index," Wyckoff added.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,235.10 to a high of $1,243.50. They rose 0.7% in the previous session and climbed 0.5% in their start to the week on Monday.
Silver for September delivery tacked on 2.9 cents, or 0.2%, to close at $16.297 an ounce. The settlement is also the highest since June 30. Silver futures traded between $16.12 and $16.33. They moved up 1.1% on Tuesday and gained 1% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
October platinum declined $6.10, or 0.7%, to $924.20 an ounce, ranging from $921.30 to $931.10.
- Closing lower for a second day in a row, palladium for September fell $5.25, or 0.6%, to $859.15 an ounce. Prices traded between $858.50 and $871.50.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold rose $1.40, or 0.1%, to 1,242.15 an ounce.
- Silver added 6 cents, or 0.4%, to $16.23 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 2:51 p.m. ET. 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 | Last Week | This Week | June | July | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,500 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 151,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 52,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 20,000 | 30,000 | 290,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 500 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 69,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 970,000 | 585,000 | 986,000 | 1,875,000 | 14,108,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,800 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
