Precious metals advanced as a group Wednesday. Gains in gold and silver brought them back to more than two-week high settlements.
Gold for February delivery gained $5.40, or 0.4%, to end at $1,269.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since Dec. 4.
"The dollar-denominated precious metal has found support from various sources, chief among them is the dollar, which has weakened against a number of currencies amid the lack of any significant news to support it," MarketWatch quoted Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,264.40 to a high of $1,271.40. They dipped 0.1% on Tuesday and climbed 0.6% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery tacked on 12.2 cents, or 0.8%, to finish at $16.275 an ounce. The close is also the highest since Dec. 4. Silver futures ranged from $16.15 to $16.32. They declined 0.3% on Tuesday and gained 0.9% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum moved up $7.40, or 0.8%, to $921.50 an ounce, trading between $910.90 and $925.
- Palladium for March delivery added $6, or 0.6%, to $1,024.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,015 to $1,028.90.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold rose $4.20, or 0.3%, to 1,264.55 an ounce.
- Silver added 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $16.185 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 advanced by a combined 1,000 ounces in gold coins. 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 | November | December | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 28,000 | 8,000 | 9,500 | 36,000 | 226,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 37,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 64,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 395,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 10,500 | 2,500 | 2,000 | 14,000 | 99,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 622,000 | 0 | 385,000 | 742,000 | 18,065,500 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
| 2017 George Rogers Clark 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 32,400 | 0 | 32,400 |
