Precious metals futures declined Wednesday, aside from palladium which climbed to settle at the same price as palladium. Gold and silver closed at six-week lows.
Gold for December delivery shed $13.90, or 1.1%, to finish at $1,287.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since Aug. 16 when prices ended at $1,282.90 an ounce.
"Gold is currently showing no signs of support. For the second time in as many weeks, the metal is threatening to break the lower bound of key support between $1,290 and $1,295 [for spot pricing], an area which was formerly resistance," MarketWatch quoted Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst with Forex.com.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,285.30 to a high of $1,299.20. They fell 0.8% on Tuesday and advanced 1.1% on Monday.
Silver for December delivery settled down 5.6 cents, or 0.3%, to $16.827 an ounce. The close is the weakest since Aug. 15 when prices ended at $16.714 an ounce. Silver futures ranged between $16.75 and $16.94. They dropped 1.5% in the previous session and gained 1% in their start to the week on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum slipped $3.20, or 0.3%, to $925.50 an ounce, trading between $921 and $933.70.
- Palladium for December delivery tacked on $11.05, or 1.2%, to $925.50 an ounce, ranging from $908.55 to $932.50.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $17.50, or 1.4%, to 1,282.55 an ounce.
- Silver declined 12 cents, or 0.7%, to $16.89 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
United States 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 | Last Week | This Week | August | September | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | N/A | 15,000 | N/A | 15,000 | 15,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 6,500 | 8,000 | 170,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 15,000 | 25,000 | 330,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 0 | 3,000 | 1,500 | 76,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 50,000 | 195,000 | 1,025,000 | 320,000 | 15,898,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 | 0 | 40,000 |
