Precious metals futures declined in the mid-week trading Wednesday with loss ranging from 0.2% for gold to 1.6% for palladium. Gold neared its lowest close of the year, though bounced slightly in after-hours dealings when minutes from the Fed’s last policy meeting were released.
Gold for June delivery declined $2.40 to settle at $1,289.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is 20 cents higher than last Thursday’s when gold logged its weakest close of the year. The yellow metal was at $1,293 an ounce in electronic trading after the FOMC minutes were released.
"They’re backing off the inflation target at 2 percent. Just them saying that signals that [the Fed is] dovish on rates and it doesn’t sound very aggressive," Reuters quoted Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. "That should be supportive for metals."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,286.70 to a high of $1,298.40. They rose 0.09% on Tuesday and slipped less than 0.1% (40 cents) on Monday.
Silver for July delivery fell 17 cents, or 1%, to end at $16.405 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.33 to $16.60. They gained 0.3% on Tuesday and rose 0.4% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
July platinum shed $8, or 0.9%, to $900.80 an ounce, trading between $898.20 and $910.40.
- Palladium for June delivery declined $15.70 to $971.10 an ounce, ranging from $961.10 to $988.40.
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 jumped in the gold arena with gains of 5,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 5,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
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 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 3,000 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 12,500 | 60,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 6,000 | 12,000 | 6,000 | 0 | 18,000 | 44,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 110,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 5,000 | 5,500 | 6,500 | 2,000 | 16,500 | 47,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 100,000 | 230,000 | 915,000 | 380,000 | 6,387,500 |
| 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 |
