Precious metals futures moved ahead Wednesday, marking gains ranging from 0.2% for platinum to 2.3% for palladium. Palladium logged another settlement record — its third in a row. Gold and silver, meanwhile, climbed from two-week lows.
Gold for December delivery increased $10.50, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,494 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"From a technical point of view, we are in a sideways phase even though the short-term trend appears negative as the highs seen in the last two months are declining ($1,550 – $1,533 – $1,520)," Carlo Alberto De Casa, chief analyst at ActivTrades, wrote in a daily research report according to MarketWatch.
"Meanwhile, buyers have managed so far to maintain the price above $1,470, holding off any sharp declines and demonstrating that there remains some appetite for the yellow metal," he wrote.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,480.60 to a high of $1,495.50. They lost 0.9% on Tuesday, for their lowest settlement since Sept. 30, and they moved up 0.6% on Monday.
Silver for December delivery rose 4.3 cents, or 0.3%, to close at $17.427 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $17.18 and $17.49. They dropped 1.8% on Tuesday, for their weakest close since Oct. 1, and they gained 1% on Monday.
In PGM futures Wednesday:
-
January platinum added $1.50 to $890.70 an ounce, ranging from $880.10 to $895.
- Palladium for December delivery surged $38.40 to a record settlement of $1,735 an ounce. Palladium traded between $1,686.70 and $1,744.70.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold declined $2.70, or 0.2%, to $1,485.10 an ounce.
- Silver sank 41.5 cents, or 2.4%, to $17.255 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
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. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | September | October | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 4,500 | 3,500 | 8,000 | 98,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 34,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 190,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 55,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 255,000 | 389,500 | 1,021,000 | 924,500 | 14,214,000 |
| San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 12,500 | 500 | 37,700 | 17,500 | 55,200 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 500 | 0 | 2,500 | 500 | 72,500 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | ||||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | ||||
