Precious metals split in the mid-week trading session Wednesday with gold and silver rising and platinum and palladium falling.
Gold for December delivery added $5.40, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,798.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"We are in a consolidation period for gold, but I think that eventually the policy tightening and inflation concerns should be positive for the metal," Reuters quoted Edward Moya, senior market analyst at brokerage OANDA.
Gold futures ranged from a low $1,784.30 to a high of $1,801. They lost 0.7% on Tuesday and they climbed 0.6% on Monday for their highest settlement since Sept. 14.
Silver for December delivery rose 10.3 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $24.191 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $23.90 and $24.33. They fell 2.1% on Tuesday and they rose 0.6% on Monday for their best finish since Sept. 3.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
January platinum declined $13.60, or 1.3%, to $1,019.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,010.60 to $1,033.80.
- Palladium for December delivery fell $30.50, or 1.5%, to $1,974.30 an ounce, trading between $1,931 and $2,019.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
The United States Mint published bullion sales gains for the first time this week. Increases included a combined 27,000 ounces in gold coins.
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 | August | September | October | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 17,500 | 21,000 | 112,000 | 67,500 | 132,000 | 945,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 3,000 | 21,000 | 4,000 | 7,000 | 88,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 8,000 | 34,000 | 8,000 | 22,000 | 150,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 30,000 | 30,000 | 50,000 | 35,000 | 85,000 | 450,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 4,000 | 27,500 | 24,000 | 38,500 | 298,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 576,000 | 3,930,000 | 2,735,000 | 1,076,000 | 26,751,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
