Precious metals rallied Wednesday, scoring gains ranging from 1.2% for platinum to 2.9% for both silver and palladium. Gold posted its second straight increase and ended at a one-month high.
Gold for December delivery tacked on $35.40, or 2%, to settle at $1,794.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Sept. 15.
"As signs that inflation is likely not transient have emerged over the last few days between commodity price rallies … increasing wage inflation and price inflation, gold’s role as an inflation hedge has moved back to the forefront," Colin Cieszynski, chief market strategist at SIA Wealth Management, told MarketWatch.
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices increased 0.4% in September from 0.3% in August while annual inflation rose 5.4% following a 5.3% increase.
"There’s more risk aversion in the market and gold is benefiting from that, coupled with concerns about inflation and cooling of the global economy," Commerzbank analyst Daniel Briesemann said according to Reuters.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,757.90 to a high of $1,778.50. They rose 0.2% on Tuesday and they dipped 0.1% on Monday.
Silver for December delivery jumped 65.6 cents to close at $23.17 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $22.48 and $22.97. They fell 0.7% on Tuesday and they shed 0.2% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum rose $12.50 to $1,024.20 an ounce, ranging from $1,003 to $1,033.80.
- Palladium for December delivery surged $58.30 to $2,106.10 an ounce, trading between $2,035.50 and $2,147.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Wednesday.
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 | August | September | October | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 81,500 | 11,000 | 112,000 | 67,500 | 92,500 | 906,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 81,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 34,000 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 50,000 | 35,000 | 25,000 | 390,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 12,500 | 20,000 | 27,500 | 24,000 | 32,500 | 292,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 500,000 | 0 | 3,930,000 | 2,735,000 | 500,000 | 26,175,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
