Precious metals futures advanced in pre-holiday trading Wednesday. Markets in the U.S. are closed Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday and re-open to an abbreviated trading schedule on Friday.
Gains in gold and silver were their fifth in six sessions. Both closed at two-week highs.
Gold for December delivery rose $6.80, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,228 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the strongest since Nov. 7 when prices ended 70 cents higher.
"The on-going trade tensions between the U.S. and China are driving global equities lower and continue to underpin interest across the precious complex, while uncertainty over Brexit is also adding fuel to the fire," Reuters quoted traders at MKS PAMP.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,220.10 to a high of $1,230.90. They slipped 0.3% on Tuesday and rose 0.2% on Monday.
Silver for December delivery advanced 23.3 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $14.502 an ounce. Like for gold, the close was the highest since Nov. 7. Silver futures traded between $14.26 and $14.54. They declined 0.9% on Tuesday and edged up 0.2% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum rose $3.60, or 0.4%, to $850.60 an ounce, ranging from $842.30 to $853.30.
- Palladium for December delivery added $7.10, or 0.6%, to $1,133.20 an ounce, trading between $1,123.30 and $1,139.60. On Friday, the precious metal ended at a record of $1,154.60 an ounce.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold rose $3.10, or 0.3%, to 1,226.10 an ounce.
- Silver dipped 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $14.42 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. 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 / This Week | Last Week | October | November | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 21,000 | 5,000 | 177,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 62,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 225,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 6,500 | 3,000 | 117,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 865,000 | 1,430,000 | 1,270,000 | 14,835,000 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Voyageurs 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Cumberland Island 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,500 |
