Precious metals rallied Wednesday, posting increases ranging from 1.7% for gold to 5.5% for palladium. Gold and silver finished the day at about two-month highs.
Gold for February delivery tacked on $30.80 to settle at $1,843.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Nov. 19 when gold ended at $1,851.60 an ounce.
"The precious metals are seeing good buying interest amid growing worries about rising global price inflation, as well as some geopolitics presently at play. Bullish outside markets — a weaker U.S. dollar index and higher crude oil prices — are also working in favor of the metals market bulls at mid-week" Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,809 and $1,843.90. They lost 0.2% in the start to the trading week on Tuesday.
Silver for March delivery soared 73.9 cents, or 3.2%, to end at $24.231 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since Nov. 22 when silver ended at $24.297 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from a low of $23.43 to a high of $24.27. They gained 2.5% on Tuesday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
April platinum advanced $48.90, or 5%, to $1,028.40 an ounce, trading between $970.10 and $1,035.50.
- Palladium for March delivery surged $103.80 to $2,008.40 an ounce, ranging from $1,878 to $2,042.50.
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 / This Week | Last Week | December | 2021 Sales | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 14,000 | 41,000 | 1,115,500 | 87,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 95,000 | 44,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 14,000 | 2,000 | 162,000 | 52,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 35,000 | 0 | 490,000 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 10,500 | 350,500 | 42,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 500,000 | 0 | 28,275,000 | 3,501,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 | 0 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 | 0 |
