Gold futures were alone among precious metals with their gains on Monday, rising 0.4%. Palladium slipped 0.5% while silver and platinum each gave back 1%.
Gold for December delivery tacked on $4.40 to settle at $1,107.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Investors are looking ahead to the Fed’s decision this week on interest rates.
"Gold remains technically bearish on the daily time frame with the major catalyst for a potential selloff gyrating around whether the Federal Reserve [begins] to raise U.S. interest rates before the end of 2015," Lukman Otunuga, a FXTM analyst, said in a report.
Gold prices marked a low of $1,102.60 and a high of $1,108.80. They fell last week by 1.6%, a third straight weekly decline.
Matching its loss on Friday, silver for December delivery fell 14 cents to settle at $14.36 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $14.35 to $14.59. They slipped 0.3% last week.
In rounding out the precious metals futures complex:
-
October platinum declined $9.50 to $955.40 an ounce, trading between $952.20 and $973.80.
- Palladium for December delivery shed $3.20 to $587.70 an ounce, ranging from $582.80 to $598.80.
Last week, platinum slid 2.8% and palladium gained 2.4%.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices were divided. In comparing London bullion prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold added $4.55, or 0.4%, to $1,104.80 an ounce.
- Silver lost 15 cents, or 1%, to $14.43 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are displayed on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight after the setting of the prices each day.
Last week, gold fell 1.6%, silver shed 0.7%, and platinum lost 2%. Palladium was the exception, rising 2.1%.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in September
United States Mint bullion sales advanced in their start to the new week. Gains included 573,000 ounces in silver coins and 29,000 ounces in gold coins — just 500 ounces short from last week’s five-day haul.
The U.S. Mint has restricted sales of American Silver Eagles since temporarily running out of them in early July. The agency allocated 809,500 for this week after selling 1 million in each of the two prior weeks. There are now 236,500 left until the next allocation. Silver Eagle sales this year at 34,068,000 coins are on a record pace, up 17.8% through the same time last year. In 2014 when sales ended at a record 44,006,000, the coins by Sept. 14, 2014 reached sales of 28,921,000.
Below is a listing of United States Mint bullion products with the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | August Sales | Sept Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 21,000 | 21,500 | 78,500 | 62,000 | 483,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 2,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 5,000 | 59,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 2,000 | 2,000 | 24,000 | 6,000 | 128,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 25,000 | 25,000 | 130,000 | 95,000 | 750,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 4,000 | 4,500 | 20,000 | 14,000 | 162,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 573,000 | 1,000,000 | 4,935,000 | 1,818,000 | 34,068,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | |||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 42,000 | |||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 45,000 | |||
