Gold slipped below $1,300 an ounce Monday after rallying Friday to end the week in positive territory.
Gold for June delivery shed $5.20, or 0.4%, to end at $1,298.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold ranged from an intraday low of $1,295.80 to a high of $1,304.80.
"Gold prices ended the U.S. day session modestly lower Monday, on a downside technical correction following good gains posted last Friday," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "There was no major, fresh fundamental driver for the gold market Monday, which allowed technical trading to dominate. The gold bears have the overall near-term technical advantage."
Last week, gold prices rose 0.7% thanks to a Friday gain of $18.90 or 1.5%.
Silver also turned down Monday while PGMs declined after rising every day last week. In the daily breakdowns:
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Silver for May delivery lost 4 cents, or 0.2%, to $19.91 an ounce, trading between $19.78 and $20.02.
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July platinum fell $23.10, or 1.6%, to $1,427.80 an ounce, ranging from $1,426.60 to $1,450.70.
- Palladium for June delivery also declined $23.10, but at a larger 2.9%, to end at $767.65 an ounce. Palladium traded between $761.25 and $791.75.
Increases last week for the three precious metals stacked to 0.8% for silver, 3.1% for platinum and 2.2% for palladium.
London Fix Precious Metals
Excluding gold, earlier fixed London precious metals also declined. In contrasting the London fix prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold edged up $1.75, or 0.1%, to $1,299 an ounce,
- Silver fell 12 cents, or 0.6%, to $19.81 an ounce,
- Platinum dropped $9, or 0.6%, to $1,435 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $4, or 0.5%, to $785 an ounce
Pick-ups last week included 0.2% for gold, 1.1% for silver, 3.1% for platinum and 2.3% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in March
Adding to strong increases last week, U.S. Mint bullion sales climbed across three series with Gold Eagles up 1,500 ounces, Silver Eagles gaining 659,500 and Gold Buffalo coins rising 3,000.
Below is a sales breakdown across U.S. Mint bullion products with columns offering the number of bullion coins sold on Monday, last week, last month, the month-to-date, and the year-to-date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Sales Last Week | March Sales | April Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Coins | 0 | 800 | 10,000 | 300 | 10,300 |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 16,000 | 9,000 | 109,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 18,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coins | 4,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coins | 5,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 | 15,000 | 255,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coins | 3,000 | 7,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 75,500 |
| $1 American Silver Eagle Coins | 659,500 | 1,171,000 | 5,354,000 | 952,500 | 14,831,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,800 | 12,400 | 2,600 | 15,000 |
