Palladium declined on Wednesday, while other precious metals gained, with gold prices rallying to an all-time high and silver prices rising for the first time in a week.
Climbing for a fourth session in a row, gold for February delivery tacked on $23.30, or 1.1%, to settle at a record of $2,093.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"I can think of no clearer demonstration of gold’s role as a store of value than the enthusiasm with which investors across the world have turned to the metal during the recent economic and geopolitical turmoils," Reuters quoted LMBA’s chief executive officer Ruth Crowell.
Gold futures traded between $2,072.80 and $2,095.80. They inched 0.03% higher at the start of the new trading week on Tuesday.
Rising for the first time since last Wednesday, silver for March delivery increased by 24.5 cents, or 1%, ending at $24.641 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $24.22 to $24.73. On Tuesday, they fell by 0.7%.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
-
April platinum added $19, or 1.9%, to $1,014.60 an ounce, trading between $989.70 and $1,017.
- Palladium for March delivery declined by $31.70, or 2.7%, to $1,157.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,155 to $1,213.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Friday, Dec. 15, the U.S. Mint published new bullion sales data, including updated figures for November and the first figures for December, with no further changes published 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) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| October | November | December | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 97,000 | 40,000 | 12,500 | 921,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 7,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 102,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 18,000 | 16,000 | 0 | 198,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 30,000 | 55,000 | 10,000 | 670,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 36,500 | 14,000 | 12,500 | 394,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 3,938,000 | 2,378,000 | 368,000 | 24,593,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
Palladium dropping as more ICE cars made and EV production slowing down. Oh right. Must be the stop order on Silverado for roofs flying open. Or rams with sudden loss of steering control. No? Well what could it be? A recession by any other name would still hurt as much.