In precious metals prices on Tuesday, silver declined while gold, platinum, and palladium gained. Silver finished the day at another, more than two-month low.
Gold for April delivery added $5.30, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,884.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The gold and silver markets got a brief lift and hit daily highs by a speech from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, in which he initially produced no surprises on U.S. monetary policy. However, at the end of his speech he warned that more strong U.S. economic data may force the Fed to remain hawkish for longer — prompting the precious metals prices to back off their highs," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,877.50 and $1,897.20. They rose 0.2% on Monday.
Silver for March delivery dipped 6 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $22.177 an ounce. The close was the lowest since silver finished at $21.781 an ounce on Nov 30. Silver futures ranged from $22.06 to $22.49. They lost 0.8% on Monday.
In other precious metals prices Tuesday:
-
April platinum added $11.60, or 1.2%, to $986.20 an ounce, trading between $968 and $988.30.
- Palladium for March delivery jumped $62.10, or 4%, to $1,641.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,557 to $1,656.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Tuesday, the United States Mint published the first bullion sales of the month. Increases included a combined:
- 16,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles,
- 5,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos, and
- 450,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
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) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last Week | January Sales | This Week / February | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 13,500 | 118,000 | 9,000 | 127,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 37,000 | 1,000 | 38,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 62,000 | 2,000 | 64,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 115,000 | 65,000 | 180,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 5,500 | 59,000 | 5,000 | 64,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 3,949,000 | 450,000 | 4,399,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Again my fortunes are rising.