Precious metals futures advanced Wednesday following a break from trading on Tuesday for Christmas. Gold marked another, more than six-month high while silver logged its strongest close in about four and a half months.
Gold for February delivery added $1.20, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $1,273 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since June 15 when gold ended at $1,278.50 an ounce.
"The downdraft in global equity markets has firmed up gold’s major support level to $1,250. But given the shaky global equity markets, and waning risk sentiment, we should expect safe-haven demand for gold to remain firm into year-end [and] beyond," MarketWatch quoted analysts at Oanda.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,267.50 to a high of $1,282.30. They rose 1.1% on Monday.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery surged 30.3 cents, or 2%, to settle at $15.123 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since silver ended at $15.295 an ounce on Aug. 10. Silver futures traded between $14.78 and $15.25. They gained 0.8% on Monday.
In PGM futures prices Wednesday:
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January platinum added $10.70, or 1.4%, to $800.10 an ounce, ranging from $788.30 to $804.30.
- Palladium for March delivery gained $9.80, or 0.8%, to $1,185.90 an ounce, trading between $1,174 and $1,189. Last Wednesday, palladium ended at a record of $1,201.30 an ounce.
London Precious Metals Prices
London markets also closed Wednesday for holiday. The latest LBMA prices on Monday were:
- Gold at $1,261.25 an ounce.
- Silver at $14.675 an ounce.
- Platinum at $792 an ounce.
- Palladium at $1,240 an ounce.
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 | November | December | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 16,000 | 2,000 | 190,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 32,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 62,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 230,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,500 | 1,500 | 121,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 100,000 | 1,645,000 | 350,000 | 15,560,000 |
| 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 |
| Block Island 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 80,000 | 0 | 80,000 |
