Gold jumped and returned to above $1,400 an ounce on Monday after falling from the level and a two-week high in the previous session.
Gold for August delivery recovered all but a dime of Friday’s fall. The yellow metal advanced $18.90, or 1.4%, to finish at $1,411.90 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Prices traded between an intraday low of $1,388.30 and a high of $1,416.50. Gains on the day were attributed to a weaker U.S. dollar and bargain-hunting.
"Comex gold futures prices ended the U.S. day session with solid gains on short covering and some bargain hunting as the U.S. dollar index took a nose-dive and hit a three-week low Monday," said Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, in a daily note.
"The slide in the greenback prompted traders and investors to do some perceived value buying in gold, and also prompted many of the shorts to exit their positions," added Wyckoff.
Though gold fell hard in the previous session, it still added 0.5% last week for a second straight weekly gain.
In other New York precious metals futures:
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Silver for July delivery surged 47.8 cents, or 2.2% to close at $22.721 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from a low of $22.175 to a high of $22.915.
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July platinum added $35.60, or 2.4%, to $1,497.40 an ounce, trading between $1,456.60 and $1,505.60.
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Palladium for September delivery rose $5.40, or 0.7%, to $759.04 an ounce, ranging from $748.65 to $763.00.
Last week, silver was the only precious metal to decline. It lost 1.1%. Platinum finished up 0.7% for the week while palladium soared 3.7%.
London Fix Precious Metals
Aside from silver, London fixed precious metals rose Monday. When comparing the Friday PM to Monday PM London Fix prices:
- Gold edged up $8.00, or 0.6%, to $1,402.50 an ounce,
- Silver dipped 14.0 cents, or 0.6%, to $22.43 an ounce,
- Platinum gained $28.00, or 1.9%, to $1,487.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium advanced $11.00, or 1.5%, to $755.00 an ounce
US Bullion Coin Sales in June
Sales advanced across American Eagle and American Buffalo bullion coins. United States Mint distributors ordered a total of 7,000 ounces in gold coins and 583,500 ounces in silver coins.
For the latter, all sales came from the American Silver Eagle. In a fresh milestone, the 99.9% pure silver coins topped 22 million for the year. The annual Silver Eagle sales record happened in 2011 at just shy of 40 million coins. Back then, it took until July 5 to match the sales that have already occurred this year.
The following are weekly, June and year-to-date bullion coin totals as published by the United States Mint.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date / June | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 3,000 | 11,500 | 3,000 | 498,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 42,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 78,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 20,000 | 60,000 | 20,000 | 380,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 1,500 | 2,000 | 146,500 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 0 | 25,800 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 583,500 | 858,500 | 583,500 | 22,352,000 |
Figures above are in the number of coins sold, not in ounces.
Must have been enough to trigger a mint pricing change today.