Gold ticked higher to start the new trading week on Monday, advancing from its lowest price of the year.
Gold for December delivery settled up $3.40, or 0.3%, to $1,218.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Tepid short covering by the futures traders and some light bargain hunting were featured, following recent solid selling pressure that drove prices to a nine-month low last week. The sell-off in the U.S. stock market Monday also aided the gold market bulls," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "However, the powerful rally in the U.S. dollar index remains a major bearish underlying factor for the precious metals markets."
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,215.80 to a high of $1,223.90. Gold dipped 0.1% last week, ending at the lowest price since the most active contract finished last year at $1,202.30 an ounce.
In other precious futures on Monday:
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Silver for December delivery tacked on 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $17.57 an ounce, ranging from $17.43 to $17.64.
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January platinum gained $8.40, or 0.7%, to $1,309.50 an ounce, trading between $1,296.50 and $1,310.50.
- Palladium for December delivery added $5.70, or 0.7%, to $789.50 an ounce, ranging from $778.50 to $793.50.
In prices last week, silver, platinum and palladium logged losses of 1.7%, 2.7% and 3.5%.
London Fix Precious Metals
With the exception of palladium, earlier fixed London precious metals went up. In contrasting the London bullion Fix prices and the LBMA Silver Price from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold rose $5.75, or 0.5%, to $1,219.50 an ounce,
- Silver gained 4 cents, or 0.2%, to $17.58,
- Platinum added $2, or 0.2%, at $1,306 an ounce, and
- Palladium tumbled $16, or 2%, to $786 an ounce
London precious metals last week registered declines of 0.5% for gold, 4.9% for silver, 3% for platinum and 2.6% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales
United States Mint bullion coin sales advanced Monday, extending very strong gains from each of the prior two weeks. Increases included:
- 2,000 ounces in platinum coins,
- 5,000 ounces in gold coins, and
- 325,000 ounces in silver 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 | Last Week | August Sales | September Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 200 | 700 | 2,600 | 16,200 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 4,000 | 10,000 | 21,000 | 48,500 | 294,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 32,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 8,000 | 92,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 | 435,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 1,000 | 5,000 | 8,000 | 14,000 | 139,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 325,000 | 1,290,000 | 2,007,500 | 3,375,000 | 31,486,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 31,500 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 500 | 1,000 | 21,500 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 300 | 1,200 | 800 | 22,000 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,200 | 7,500 | 4,200 | 11,700 |
