In futures trading Wednesday, palladium declined while gold, silver and platinum advanced. Increases in gold and silver were their fourth in a row, with ending near a two-week high.
Gold for February delivery settled up $8.80, or 0.5%, to $1,827.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Dec. 31.
“The precious metals are boosted at mid-week by positive daily outside markets that include solidly higher crude oil prices that are near last fall’s seven-year high, a lower U.S. dollar index that hit a two-month low today, and a slight drop in U.S. Treasury yields,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
"The U.S. data point of the week was Wednesday morning’s consumer price index report for December, which came in at up 7.0%, year-on-year."
The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices increased 0.5% in December from 0.8% in November. Annual inflation at 7% was the highest since June 1982.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,814.40 to a high of $1,828. They rose 1.1% on Tuesday and they edged 0.08% higher on Monday.
Silver for March delivery gained 39.5 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $23.207 an ounce. Like for gold, silver’s finish was its highest since Dec. 31. Silver futures traded between $22.68 and $23.26. They gained 1.6% on Tuesday and they inched up 0.2% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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April platinum rose $6.90, or 0.7%, to $980.10 an ounce, ranging from $961.50 to $983, after soaring 4.2% on Tuesday.
- Palladium for March delivery declined $6.30, or 0.3%, to $1,915.80 an ounce, trading between $1,895.50 and $1,948.50, after rising 0.7% on Tuesday.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
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 | December | 2021 Sales | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 73,500 | 14,000 | 41,000 | 1,115,500 | 87,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 26,000 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 95,000 | 44,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 38,000 | 14,000 | 2,000 | 162,000 | 52,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 115,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 490,000 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 35,000 | 7,000 | 10,500 | 350,500 | 42,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 3,001,000 | 500,000 | 0 | 28,275,000 | 3,501,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 | 0 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 | 0 |
