Precious metals declined together for a second day in a row on Wednesday, although they experienced a milder drop compared to Tuesday. Gold reached a four-week low, while silver ended at its lowest price in three months.
Gold for August delivery moved down by $2.80, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,944.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was again the lowest since May 25.
"Testimony before Congress from Fed Chairman Jerome Powell saw him lean hawkish, which is not a surprise. However, U.S. Treasury yields up-ticked after his remarks, which in turn put some more price pressure on the two precious metals markets [gold and sivler]," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
"Powell said interest rates are still too high and that the U.S. central bank will likely have to raise interest rates some more. The marketplace is closely watching the testimony for clues on the specific timing of a future U.S. interest rate increase.
Gold futures traded between $1,929.30 and $1,950.40, after dropping 1.2% in the start to the new trading week on Tuesday (U.S. markets closed on Monday for the Juneteenth holiday.)
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery fell by 42.4 cents, or 1.8%, to end at $22.81 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since March 22. The range for silver futures was between $22.51 and $23.23. They tumbled 3.7% on Tuesday.
In PGM future prices on Wednesday:
-
July platinum declined by $19, or 2%, to $949 an ounce, trading between $947 and $966.50.
- Palladium for September delivery shed $34.80, or 2.5%, to $1,344.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,337.50 to $1,384.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
Last Tuesday, June 13, the U.S. Mint published bullion sales gains for the first time this month. No further sales have been reported since then. The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday / This Week | Last Week | March | April | May | June | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 16,000 | 211,000 | 159,500 | 60,500 | 16,000 | 606,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 32,000 | 4,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 80,000 | 15,000 | 340,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 73,000 | 61,000 | 47,000 | 7,000 | 266,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 725,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 1,593,000 | 725,000 | 8,967,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 3,500 | 7,500 | 500 | 1,200 | 3,500 | 12,700 |
