Gold advanced for a six straight session to start the new trading week on Monday, and prices logged in at a new 3-week high.
Gold for August delivery rose $1.20, or 0.1%, to close at $1,275.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement price is the highest since gold ended at $1,291.70 an ounce on May 23. Safe-haven demand continues to be supportive.
"Gold is expected to climb this week as the situation in Iraq remains volatile," Reuters quoted Howie Lee, an analyst with Phillip Futures. "At its current level," Lee added, "gold appears to have plenty of upside before facing heavy resistance."
Prices traded from $1,272.50 to $1,285.10. Gold increased 1.7% last week.
Silver for July delivery tacked on 6 cents, or 0.3%, to $19.72 an ounce, ranging from $19.58 to $19.88. Silver prices have advanced in 10 of the last 11 sessions. Last week, the precious metal jumped 3.5%.
In PGM futures:
-
July platinum turned up $4.10, or 0.3%, to $1,439.10 an ounce, trading between $1,435.50 to $1,445.60.
- Palladium for September delivery lost $3.25, or 0.4%, to $809.35 an ounce, ranging from $808.30 to $823.50.
Last week, platinum fell 1.2% and palladium tumbled 3.8%.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were mostly higher. In contrasting London fix prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold rose $3.25, or 0.3%, to $1,276.25 an ounce,
- Silver added 9 cents, or 0.5%, to $19.67 an ounce,
- Platinum gained $4, or 0.3%, to $1,441 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $2, or 0.2%, to $814 an ounce
Last week in London precious metals, gains included 2% for gold and 2.9% for silver and losses totaled 1.1% for platinum and 2.9% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in June
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:20 p.m. ET. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold last week, last month, the month so far, and the year-to-date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Sales Last Week | May Sales | June Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 200 | 1,000 | 700 | 12,900 |
| $50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 7,000 | 29,000 | 17,500 | 173,000 |
| $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 | 0 | 5,000 | 35,000 | 15,000 | 340,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 12,500 | 5,500 | 101,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 675,000 | 3,988,500 | 1,345,000 | 22,781,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 4,000 | 1,000 | 28,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 19,100 | 500 | 19,600 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 13,500 | N/A | 13,500 | 13,500 |
