On Wednesday, prices for gold, silver, and platinum declined following their prior day’s gains, while palladium registered its third consecutive loss.
Gold for April delivery dipped by $1.40, or 0.07%, to settle at $2,042.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"A firmer U.S. dollar index today is a negative ‘outside market’ force working against the precious metals market bulls. Also, the near-term technical postures for gold and silver are still leaning bearish, which is inviting some of the chart-based traders to the sell sides," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
During the day, gold futures traded between $2,033.40 and $2,047.40, rising by 0.3% on Tuesday but giving back 0.5% on Monday.
Elsewhere, May silver fell by 12.1 cents, 0.5%, to close at $22.636 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $22.47 to $22.74. On Tuesday, they edged up by 0.1%, while on Monday, they dropped by 2%.
In other precious metals prices on Wednesday:
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April platinum lost $11.90, or 1.3%, to $885.10 an ounce, trading between $881.70 and $897.20.
- Palladium for June delivery shed $20.30, or 2.1%, to $931.90 an ounce, ranging from $916.50 to $948.50.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
On Wednesday, the U.S. Mint’s published bullion sales were unchanged. On Tuesday, for the first time since Feb. 15, the Mint reported new sales, which included gains of 8,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 8,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos, and 850,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
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 | January | February | 2024 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,500 | 87,500 | 13,000 | 100,5000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25,000 | 0 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46,000 | 4,000 | 50,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 15,000 | 115,000 | 40,000 | 155,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 46,500 | 13,500 | 60,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 850,000 | 4,900,000 | 1,700,000 | 6,600,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
