Precious metals declined on Wednesday, the first trading day of February, posting losses ranging from 0.1% for gold to 1.9% for platinum. After-hour dealings saw gold surge following the Fed’s announced hike in interest rates and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s press conference.
Slipping from a near 9.5-month high, gold for April delivery dipped $2.50 to settle at $1,942.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold futures traded between $1,936.10 and $1,970.80. They rose 0.3% on Tuesday, marking their highest settlement since April 21 and logging a 6.5% gain in January.
In later electronic trading following Fed news, the yellow metal jumped above $1,966.
On Wednesday following a two-day monetary policy meeting, the Fed’s FOMC raised the benchmark federal-funds rate by 0.25% to a range between 4.5% and 4.75%.
Calling Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s later press conference ‘relatively dovish’, Standard Chartered analyst Suki Cooper said, "signaling the path to peak rates and highlighting falling inflation has given gold prices a boost as the USD weakened and real rates eased."
Silver for March delivery shed 22.7 cents, or 1%, to end at $23.609 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $23.44 and $24.15. They climbed 0.4% on Tuesday, and registered a decline in January of 0.9%.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
April platinum declined $19.40 to $1,001.70 an ounce, ranging from $997 to $1,023.40.
- Palladium for March delivery fell $15.70, or 1%, to $1,632.60 an ounce, trading between $1,620 and $1,698.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
Also on Wednesday, the United States Mint published updated bullion sales for last month. Additions for January include a combined:
- 17,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles,
- 5,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos, and
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February | November | December | Last Week | This Week | January Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 3,500 | 13,500 | 118,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 37,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 62,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,500 | 0 | 9,000 | 5,500 | 59,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,407,000 | 59,000 | 0 | 0 | 3,949,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Guess we’ll have to wait for tomorrow for it to go up again.
Kinda like Groundhog Day.