Most precious metals futures advanced Wednesday, led by palladium which rallied 4.6% for yet another record settlement. Gold moved lower.
Gold for February delivery fell $1.20, or 0.08%, to settle at $1,556.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"It would appear as if global anxiety has yet to reach a high enough level to attract safe haven buying of gold off the idea of a major economic/health related debacle," analysts at Zaner Metals wrote in a daily note reported by MarketWatch. "Therefore, it appeared as if the gold market initially adopted deflationary fear from the crisis."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,550 to a high of $1,559.80. They declined 0.2% in starting the trading week on Tuesday.
Silver for March delivery setted up 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $17.828 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $17.67 and $17.93 They dropped 1.5% on Tuesday.
In PGM future prices Wednesday:
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April platinum tacked on $13.80, or 1.4%, to $1,021.30 an ounce, ranging from $995.90 to $1,023.20.
- Palladium for March delivery soared $102.90 to a record settlement of $2,335.60 an ounce. Palladium traded between $2,217.50 and $2,372.90.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Tuesday PM to Wednesday PM:
- Gold added $5.60, or 0.4%, to $1,556.90 an ounce.
- Silver declined 21.5 cents, or 1.2%, to $17.77 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
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 / This Week | November | December | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 19,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin* | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 13,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 14,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 1,500 | 10,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 2,298,000 |
