In precious metals on Wednesday, gold notched its third loss in four sessions, while silver, platinum and palladium gained. Silver marked another, almost two-month high.
Gold for June delivery — the new, most-active contract — slipped $5.90, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,984.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Risk appetite is slowly creeping back into the marketplace this week. That’s bearish for the safe-haven metals. A firmer U.S. dollar index on this day is also negative for the metals markets," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,976.40 and $1,993.20. The most active gold contract gained 1% on Tuesday and dropped 1.5% on Monday. As recently as Thursday, the price of gold reached $1,995.90 an ounce, logging its highest settlement since March 10, 2022.
Rising for the fifth time in six sessions, silver for May delivery rose 4.6 cents, or 0.2%, to end at $23.466 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since Feb. 2. Silver futures ranged from $23.20 to $23.56. They advanced 1.2% on Tuesday and they shed 0.8% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
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July platinum moved up $5.50, or 0.6%, to $977.40 an ounce, trading between $959.20 and $981.10.
- Palladium for June delivery tacked on $22.40, or 1.6%, to $1,437.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,404.50 to $1,451.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
Published U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged on Wednesday. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday | Last Week | This Week | January Sales | February | March | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 107,500 | 26,000 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 183,500 | 343,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 84,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 38,500 | 9,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 67,000 | 145,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 450,000 | 0 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 5,749,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 7,500 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 7,500 | 7,500 |
Wow, just look at those Mint bullion sales. The hoarders are hard at work again, reburying their mountainous stashes of more precious to them than life itself metals.
Great balls of fire!
Yes, Antonio, that could happen if you get too close to the dragon’s breath.