On Wednesday, prices for precious metals showed a mixed trend during the mid-week trading session, with gold and silver declining while platinum and palladium increased.
Gold for June delivery gave back $5.80, or 0.3%, to settle at $2,037.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold and silver prices are lower at midday Wednesday and have erased the modest gains seen in the immediate aftermath of a U.S. inflation report that was close to market expectations. Profit taking from the speculative futures traders is featured in both markets," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Earlier Wednesday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that consumer prices moved up by 0.4% in April, which is an increase from March’s rise of 0.1%. Annual inflation eased slightly to 4.9% from 5%. The core rate for the month was 0.4% for a second straight month, while the year-on-year rate slowed slightly to 5.5% from 5.6%.
Gold futures traded between $2,028.30 and $2,056 after increasing by 0.5% on Tuesday and rising by 0.4% on Monday. Last Thursday, gold at $2,055.70 an ounce settled at its best price since reaching a record on Aug. 6, 2020.
Silver for July delivery fell by 24 cents, or 0.9%, to settle at $25.658 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $25.45 to $26.20, having increased by 0.3% on Tuesday after dropping by 0.4% on Monday. Last Thursday, silver at $26.227 an ounce logged its highest finish since March 10, 2022.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
July platinum rose by $3.10, or 0.3% to $1,119.10 an ounce, trading between $1,110 and $1,137.90.
- Palladium for June delivery tacked on $25.40, or 1.6%, to $1,605.10, ranging from $1,561 to $1,625.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
U.S. Mint published bullion sales were unchanged on Wednesday, following their first gains of the month on Monday. The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week / May | February | March | April | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 13,000 | 41,500 | 211,000 | 159,000 | 542,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 54,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 114,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 245,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 23,000 | 19,500 | 73,000 | 61,000 | 235,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 450,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 7,099,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 7,500 | 500 | 8,000 |
Kaiser,
The precious metals are all down this morning, especially silver – down more than $1 per ounce!
Chicken Little is scared… Lol.
NumisdudeTX