Gold prices dipped to start the new trading week on Monday as safe-haven demand weakened and investors focused more on riskier assets.
Gold for December delivery edged down 50 cents to close at $1,310.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Lack of any news out of Ukraine is pushing the safe-haven premium of gold lower," Adam Klopfenstein, a senior market strategist at Archer Financial Services in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "The strength in the equity market is pulling money away from gold."
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,306.40 to a high of $1,312.90. Gold advanced 1.3% last week.
Snapping a two-session losing streak, silver for September picked up 15 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $20.10 an ounce. Silver prices traded between $19.85 and $20.11. The precious metal last week tumbled 2.1% and ended down Friday for the sixth time in seven sessions.
In PGM futures on Monday
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October platinum shed $6.70, or 0.5%, to $1,471.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,468.70 to $1,481.90.
- Palladium for September tacked on $14.20, or 1.7%, to $874.70 an ounce, trading between $857.60 and $876.50.
The two metals split last week with platinum up 1% and palladium down 0.5%.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were mostly lower. In contrasting the London bullion fix prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold fell $2.50, or 0.2%, to $1,307.25 an ounce,
- Silver plunged 28 cents, or 1.4%, $19.85 an ounce,
- Platinum slipped $4, or 0.3%, to $1,471 an ounce, and
- Palladium rose $7, or 0.8%, to $864 an ounce
Last week, gold and platinum fixings climbed by 1.4% and 0.9%. Silver and palladium declined by 1% and 1.6%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in August
U.S. Mint coins climbed modestly Monday following soaring gains last week in which bullion sales were the highest in three months for silver coins and the best in six weeks for gold coins. Increases to start the new week included 1,500 ounces of American Gold Eagles and 200 ounces of American Platinum Eagles. Platinum Eagles marked their first gains since the week ended June 13. The platinum coins are beginning their 20th week of release after a five-year hiatus.
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 Sales | Sales Last Week | July Sales | August Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 200 | 0 | 0 | 200 | 13,100 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 1,500 | 10,000 | 26,000 | 11,500 | 236,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 80,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 15,000 | 25,000 | 15,000 | 400,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 5,500 | 4,000 | 121,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 955,000 | 1,975,000 | 955,000 | 27,058,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 29,500 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 0 | 20,000 |
