Precious metals declined on Wednesday. Their losses ranged from 0.6% for palladium to 4% for both silver and platinum. Gold’s decline was its first in five sessions and comes after scoring a 19-month settlement high.
Gold for April delivery dropped $55.10, or 2.7%, to settle at $1,988.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“Gold and silver prices are sharply down in midday U.S. trading Wednesday, on heavy profit-taking from the shorter-term futures traders after gold futures hit a record intra-day high and silver hit an eight-month high on Tuesday. Strong losses in crude oil and other commodity markets today are also helping to pressure the precious metals markets,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from $1,981 to $2,068.50. They jumped 2.4% on Tuesday to score their highest settlement since Aug. 6, 2020, and they gained 1.5% on Monday.
Silver for May delivery tumbled $1.08 to settle at $25.816 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $25.73 and $27.39. They soared 4.6% on Tuesday for their strongest finish since June 16, and they shed 0.3% on Monday.
In PGM futures on Wednesday:
- April platinum fell $45.60 to $1,107.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,088.20 to $1,197.
- Palladium for June delivery shed $18.70 to $2,949.80 an ounce, trading between $2,866 and $3,289. On Friday, palladium posted a record settlement of $2,981.90.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged 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 | February | March | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 27,500 | 25,000 | 123,500 | 86,000 | 33,500 | 243,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 64,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 74,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 195,000 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 240,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 11,500 | 10,500 | 61,500 | 28,500* | 15,500 | 105,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 482,000 | 5,001,000 | 1,500,000 | 482,000 | 6,983,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 4,700 | 2,500 | N/A | 25,800 | 7,200 | 33,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |