Gold settled near its daily low on Monday, extending losses for a fourth straight session although prices are still 1% higher than a week ago.
Gold for February delivery turned down $14.80, or 1.2%, to close at $1,207.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The yellow metal was again pressured by a rising U.S. dollar and falling oil prices. Trading lacked some intensity as investors are already looking ahead to the Fed’s policy meeting beginning on Tuesday and ending on Wednesday.
"This week will be all about the Fed," Phil Streible, a senior commodity broker at R.J. O’Brien & Associates in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "Some investors are waiting on the sidelines until they get a clearer picture from the Fed."
Gold prices ranged from an intraday low of $1,206.50 to a high of $1,225.00. Gold rallied last week by 2.7%.
Silver is on a three-session losing streak with the March contract off 49 cents, or 2.9%, to $16.56 an ounce. Prices ranged from $16.43 to $17.08. Silver surged 4.9% last week.
In PGM futures on Monday
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January platinum lost $16.60, or 1.4%, to $1,214.90 an ounce, trading between $1,211.40 and $1,232.80.
- Palladium for March delivery tumbled $14, or 1.7%, to $802.25 an ounce, ranging from $800.25 to $818.55.
Last week, platinum gained 1% and palladium advanced 1.7%.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals ended lower as well. When comparing London bullion Fix prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold shed $7.75, or 0.6%, to $1,209.25 an ounce,
- Silver fell 22 cents, or 1.3%, to $16.85 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $19, or 1.5%, to $1,212 an ounce, and
- Palladium fell $7, or 0.9%, to $811 an ounce.
Last week, platinum was unchanged while the other metals registered gains of 1.9% for gold, 4.5% for silver and 1.5% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in December
United States Mint bullion silver sales advanced Monday with American Silver Eagles up 84,500 ounces and America the Beautiful 5 oz Silver Bullion Coins up 7,000 ounces. It was one week ago when Silver Eagles scored all-time sales over 400 million and a new record for a year by topping the old annual sales record set in 2013 at 42,675,000 coins. On Dec. 5, the U.S. Mint said it anticipate having enough 2014-dated Silver Eagles to offer allocations through the week of December 15. Next year’s 2015-dated coins go on sale Jan. 12.
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 December, and the year to date. Coins with an asterisk (*) have sold out.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | November Sales | December Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,900 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 49,000 | 12,000 | 414,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 0 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 12,000 | 6,000 | 118,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 560,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 12,500 | 2,500 | 175,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 84,500 | 901,000 | 3,426,000 | 1,807,000 | 43,354,000 |
| 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 | 300 | 900 | 600 | 23,900 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22,000 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 1,400 | 800 | 1,700 | 4,000 | 21,900 |
| Everglades 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 27,000 | 7,000 | 34,000 |
