Gold, silver and platinum each shed 1% to begin the new trading week on Monday. Palladium prices slipped 0.6%.
Gold for December delivery dropped $13 to close at $1,254.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold prices were pressured by the U.S. dollar, which hit a fresh 13-month high.
"The dollar’s strength is pushing gold lower," George Gero, a vice president and precious-metal strategist at RBC Capital Markets in New York, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "Also, the safe-have premium is coming off as tensions have eased in Ukraine."
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,252.10 to a high of $1,272.60. Last week gold fell 1.6%.
Silver for December delivery declined 20 cents, or 1%, to end at $18.96 an ounce. Silver traded from $18.93 to $19.35. Prices plunged last week by 1.7%.
Elsewhere in precious metals trading:
-
October platinum fell $13.50 to $1,397.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,396.80 to $1,414.50.
- Palladium for December delivery lost $5.30 to $886.15 an ounce, trading between $882.15 and $896.95.
Last week, platinum fell 1% and palladium dropped 2%.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were mostly lower. In contrasting the London bullion Fix prices and the LBMA Silver Price from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold fell $7, or 0.6%, to $1,259 an ounce,
- Silver added 6 cents, or 0.3%, to $19.19,
- Platinum dipped $2, or 0.1%, to $1,404 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $3, or 0.3%, to $884 an ounce
Last week, losses totaled 1.5% for gold, 1.7% for silver, 1.3% for platinum and 1.2% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales advanced Monday. Sales gains included:
- 2,000 ounces of American Gold Eagles;
- 240,000 ounces of American Silver Eagles; and
- 17,500 ounces of America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion 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, this month so far, and the year to date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Sales Last Week | August Sales | September Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 100 | 700 | 100 | 13,700 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 1,000 | 13,500 | 21,000 | 14,500 | 260,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 1,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 32,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 86,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 10,000 | 420,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 8,000 | 3,000 | 128,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 240,000 | 340,000 | 2,007,500 | 580,000 | 28,691,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 500 | 0 | 0 | 500 | 30,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 500 | 0 | 500 | 500 | 21,000 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,200 | 0 | 21,200 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 2,500 | 0 | 7,500 | 2,500 | 10,000 |
