Gold, silver and other precious metals futures edged lower to start the holiday-shortened trading week on Monday after jumping on Friday.
Gold for December delivery settled down $2, or 0.2%, to $1,195.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"U.S. stock indexes were firmer to start the trading week and hovering near their recent record or multi-year highs," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "The major bull run in equities worldwide is a major negative for the competing asset class raw commodities, including precious metals."
In thinner trading volume that may continue throughout this week with the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, gold prices ranged from a low of $1,192.20 to a high of $1,203.80. Gold climbed 1% last week for a second straight weekly gain.
Elsewhere in the metals market:
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Silver for December delivery shed 2 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $16.40 an ounce. The precious metal traded between $16.25 and $16.47. Last week, silver prices rose 0.5%.
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January platinum declined $19.80, or 1.6%, to $1,207.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,204.20 and $1,230. It bounced 1.2% higher last week.
- Palladium for December delivery fell $4.80, or 0.6%, to $790.10 an ounce, trading between $786.10 and $799.80. Last week, palladium prices shot ahead 3.1%.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metals were mixed. In contrasting London bullion Fix prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold shed $6.25, or 0.5%, to $1,197.50 an ounce,
- Silver added 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $16.33 an ounce,
- Platinum fell $8, or 0.7%, to $1,222 an ounce, and
- Palladium added $1, or 0.1%, to $795 an ounce
Last week, the fixings logged gains of 3% for gold, 6.2% for silver, 4.4% for platinum and 4.5% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in November
United States Mint bullion sales on Monday included 4,000 ounces in gold coins and 406,500 ounces in silver coins. Gold sales were split between American Gold Eagle and American Gold Buffalo coins. Silver sales were all American Silver Eagles.
With the U.S. Mint still limiting how many are sold because of high demand and low inventory, 2014-dated Silver Eagle just hit 41,217,000 for the year and reclaimed a record pace. Silver Eagle sales in record year 2013 reached 40,675,000 through Nov. 24, 2013. The coins last year ended at 42,675,000 in sales. The U.S. Mint introduced American Silver Eagles in 1986.
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, in November and the year to date. Coins with an asterisk (*) have sold out.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | October Sales | November Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 400 | 0 | 16,700 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 3,000 | 2,500 | 57,500 | 44,500 | 398,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 43,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 110,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 5,000 | 0 | 50,000 | 35,000 | 525,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 500 | 3,000 | 21,000 | 11,500 | 172,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 406,500 | 1,429,500 | 5,790,000 | 3,096,000 | 41,217,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 900 | 900 | 23,300 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22,000 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,100 | 4,200 | 1,700 | 17,900 |
| Everglades 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | N/A | 27,000 | 27,000 |
gold sales seem pretty strong. smart or dumb I just bought a 1/2oz today.