Precious metals futures ended divided Wednesday. Platinum and palladium declined while gold and silver closed ahead for the first time in four sessions with the former bouncing from its lowest price of the year.
Gold for June delivery edged up $1.20, or 0.09%, to settle at $1,291.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The surging U.S. dollar has been a major factor working against the precious metals market bulls over the past few weeks," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily report. "The U.S. dollar index hit another five-month high overnight, but had backed off its daily highs as of midday today, which lent just a bit of support to the precious metals."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,285.70 to a high of $1,296.40. They dropped 2.1% on Tuesday — ending at their lowest price since Dec. 26, and shed 0.2% on Monday.
Silver for July delivery tacked on 10.2 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $16.371 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.19 to $16.44. They tumbled 2.3% on Tuesday, and declined 0.5% on Monday
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
July platinum fell $7.40, or 0.8%, to $889.80 an ounce, trading between $888.10 and $900.90.
- Palladium for June delivery shed 70 cents, or 0.07%, to $982.50 an ounce, ranging from $972.60 to $984.30.
London Precious Metals Prices
LBMA bullion prices are available on the LBMA website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales registered combined gains of 1,100 ounces platinum coins and 11,000 onces in gold coins.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | April | May | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 1,100 | 0 | 7,300 | 0 | 7,300 | 27,300 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 2,500 | 1,500 | 3,000 | 4,000 | 4,500 | 52,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 12,000 | 0 | 12,000 | 0 | 12,000 | 38,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 105,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 5,500 | 4,500 | 5,500 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 40,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 50,000 | 100,000 | 915,000 | 150,000 | 6,157,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
