Most precious metals finished higher on Wednesday, the final day of the month, but they all recorded losses in January, with gold experiencing a very modest decline and palladium facing an exceptional one. Silver and platinum also marked hefty monthly losses.
Rising for the third consecutive day, gold for April delivery advanced by $16.50, or 0.8%, to settle at $2,067.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Jan. 2 when gold ended at $2,073.40 an ounce.
"Gold prices are modestly up in early afternoon U.S. trading Wednesday, but down from daily highs, in the wake of the just-released FOMC statement that leaned a bit hawkish. There is still some safe-haven demand evident after the terrorist strike in Jordan that killed three U.S. soldiers," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
On Wednesday, the central bank decided to maintain its benchmark federal-funds rate within the range of 5.25% to 5.5%, a level that has remained unchanged since July.
"The Committee does not expect it will be appropriate to reduce the target range until it has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent," the statement said in part.
For the month, gold prices shed $4.40, or 0.2%. Of note, toward the end of December, on the 27th, gold logged a record close at $2,093.10 an ounce.
For the second day in a row, silver for March delivery slid, losing 5.6 cents, or 0.2%, to close at $23.169 an ounce, bringing its total loss for January to 3.8%. On Jan. 2, like gold, silver reached its highest settlement of the month at $23.953 an ounce.
In PGM futures on Wednesday and for the month:
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April platinum edged up 90 cents, or 0.1%, to end at $932.60 an ounce, bringing its monthly decline to 7.6%.
- Palladium for March delivery tacked on $17.30, or 1.8%, to end at $996.80 an ounce, reducing its monthly loss to 10.1%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
The U.S. Mint last updated its bullion sales figures on Tuesday, Jan. 30, reporting gains that included 18,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 7,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
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 | Last Week | This Week | November | December | 2023 Sales | January | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 11,000 | 13,000 | 40,000 | 15,000 | 924,000 | 84,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 102,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 16,000 | 0 | 198,000 | 46,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 55,000 | 15,000 | 675,000 | 115,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 7,500 | 14,000 | 5,500 | 387,000 | 46,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 25,000 | 0 | 2,378,000 | 525,000 | 24,750,000 | 4,900,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 | 0 |
