Gold inched lower to start the new trading week, falling from a seven-month high in subdued trading.
Gold prices for December delivery eased $2.10, or 0.1%, to $1,770.60 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Prices traded from an intraday low of $1,762.60 to a high of $1,778.90.
Losses were attributed to profit-taking as prices advanced $32.20, or 1.9%, last week. The yellow metal has gained 4.9% this month after rising 4.5% in August.
"The good news about gold today is that we’re not down substantially," MarketWatch quoted Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist with Archer Financial in Chicago. "The market is digesting a big meal from the Fed last week."
Silver for December delivery declined 28.9 cents, or 0.8%, to $34.367 an ounce. Prices ranged from an intraday low of $34.08 to a high of $34.94.
Platinum and palladium declined for the first time in eleven sessions. On Monday:
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Platinum for October delivery fell $41.10, or 2.4%, to $1,672.60 an ounce, trading between $1,669.00 and $1,716.00.
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Palladium for December delivery lost $10.20, or 1.5%, to $689.10 an ounce, ranging from $678.00 to $700.90.
Last week, silver jumped 2.9%, platinum soared 7.4% and palladium rallied 6.8%.
London Precious Metals
Precious metals in London also declined across the board on Monday. In contrasting PM fixing prices:
- Gold fell $5.50, or 0.3%, to $1,770.00 an ounce,
- Silver shed 18.0 cents, or 0.5%, to $34.53 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $1.00, or 0.1%, to $1,696.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium lost $11.00, or 1.6%, to $691.00 an ounce
Monday’s losses cut into gains from last week which were 2.7% for gold, 7.7% for silver, 6.5% for platinum and 8.5% for palladium.
U.S. Mint Bullion Coins
Sales advanced for each type of bullion coin sold by the U.S. Mint. Demand was particularly sharp for silver coins as sales on Monday were higher than the weekly totals since the end of August. American Eagle silver coins woke up from a slumber to log sales of 740,000, which is 280,000 more than the number sold during all of last week.
The following grid offers the latest daily, September and year-to-date bullion sales as published by the U.S. Mint.
| Sales of US Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coins | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Gains | September Gains | YTD 2012 | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coins | 1,500 | 29,500 | 377,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 60,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 58,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 225,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coins | 1,000 | 5,000 | 93,000 |
| American Eagle Silver Coins | 740,000 | 1,879,000 | 24,419,000 |
| Sales of America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coins | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Gains | September Gains | All-Time Total | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 16,700 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 17,000 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 2,000 | 2,000 | 17,100 |
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 10,400 | 10,400 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 85,900 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 39,500 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 29,700 |
| TOTAL | 2,000 | 12,400 | 216,300 |
Sales figures above are in the number of coins sold, not in the amount of ounces sold.
