Gold prices ended down for a six consecutive session in starting the new trading week on Monday, marking a fresh four-month low and the longest slump since August.
Gold for August delivery dipped $2, or 0.2%, to close at $1,244 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The closing price is the weakest since gold ended at $1,239.80 an ounce on Jan. 31. Gold traded from a low of $1,241.10 to a high of $1,251.
"The technical outlook for gold is not looking very good. There is a good chance it will fall to $1,230 and then all the way $1,200," Reuters quoted a trader in Tokyo. "Physical markets haven’t reacted very much to last week’s drop but if prices fall to $1,200, then we could see some action."
Last month, gold tumbled 3.9% for the worst monthly decline of the year. It fell 3.5% last week.
Climbing for the first time in six sessions, silver for July delivery added 6 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $18.74 an ounce. The precious metal traded from $18.65 to $18.87 after plunging 2.6% in May.
In PGM futures, platinum fell for a third straight session and palladium advanced for a second. In their breakdowns:
-
July platinum declined $16, or 1.1%, to $1,436.70 an ounce, ranging from $1,435 to $1,454.10.
- Palladium for September delivery shed $3.70, or 0.4%, to $832.65 an ounce, trading between $830.60 and $837.30.
In May, gains totaled 1.7% for platinum and 2.9% for palladium.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals fixings retreated. In contrasting the London bullion fixings from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold shed $3.25, or 0.3%, to $1,247.25 an ounce,
- Silver fell 19 cents, or 1%, to $18.81 an ounce,
- Platinum dropped $27, or 1.8%, to $1,437 an ounce, and
- Palladium lost $3, or 0.4%, to $833 an ounce
Last month, increases among London precious metals included 2.8% for platinum and 4.1% for palladium while declines totaled 2.9% for gold and 1.5% for silver.
US Mint Bullion Sales in June
U.S. Mint bullion sales rose by 100 ounces in platinum coins and by 5,500 ounces in gold coins. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Monday, last week, last month, the month so far, and the year-to-date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday / Week-To-Date Sales | Sales Last Week | May Sales | June Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 100 | 0 | 1,000 | 100 | 12,300 |
| $50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 4,000 | 6,500 | 29,000 | 4,000 | 159,500 |
| $25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 68,000 |
| $5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 5,000 | 5,000 | 35,000 | 5,000 | 330,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 3,500 | 12,500 | 1,000 | 96,500 |
| $1 American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 426,500 | 3,988,500 | 0 | 21,436,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 27,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,700 | 19,100 | 0 | 19,100 |
