Gold prices settled modestly lower for a second straight session Monday. Silver and platinum also declined slightly, but palladium advanced for the second time in three sessions.
Gold for April delivery shed $4.10, or 0.3%, to close at $1,200.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The bullish sentiment for gold is just getting sucked out of the market slowly but surely," Reuters quoted Eli Tesfaye, senior market strategist for RJO Futures in Chicago. "Technical vulnerability (is) to the downside."
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,190.60 to a high of $1,210.30. Gold slid 1.8% last week and prices are down 6.1% on the month so far after soaring 7.5% in January.
"Given the big drop we’ve had in the last month, I would certainly be bullish on gold," Bloomberg News quoted Adrian Day, the president of Adrian Day Asset Management in Annapolis, Maryland. "The Fed minutes were extremely positive. The longer the Fed goes on, the more difficult it is for them to raise interest rates, because increasingly, they’re waiting for perfect conditions."
Silver for March delivery shed 2 cents, or 0.1%, to $16.25 an ounce, trading between $16.07 and $16.59. Silver prices tumbled last week by 5.9%.
In other precious metals futures on Monday:
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April platinum settled down $6.60, or 0.6%, to $1,162.90 an ounce, ranging from $1,155.50 to $1,172.60.
- Palladium for March delivery advanced $6.75, or 0.9%, to $785.95 an ounce, trading between $774.25 and $787.10.
Last week, platinum fell 3.2% and palladium dropped 1.9%.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals mostly declined. In comparing London bullion Fix prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold slipped $3.75, or 0.3%, to $1,204.50 an ounce,
- Silver fell 14 cents, or 0.9%, to $16.20 an ounce,
- Platinum shed $3, or 0.3%, to $1,163 an ounce, and
- Palladium was unchanged at $783 an ounce.
Last week, London precious metals fixings retreated. Losses across each totaled 2% for gold, 3.1% for silver, 2.9% for platinum and 0.4% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in February
United States Mint bullion sales logged strong gains on Monday with gold coins up 5,500 ounces and silver coins up 477,500 ounces.
Among silver sales, 2015 American Silver Eagles crossed 8 million to 8,239,500 for the year. In record year 2014 when Silver Eagle sales ended at 44,006,000, the coins had a lower total of 7,275,000 by Feb. 23, 2014.
Below are U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying time periods.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | January Sales | February Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 2,000 | 4,500 | 51,500 | 11,000 | 62,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 20,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 36,000 | 0 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 10,000 | 5,000 | 115,000 | 50,000 | 165,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 2,500 | 3,000 | 34,500 | 11,500 | 46,000 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 465,000 | 720,000 | 5,530,000 | 2,709,500 | 8,239,500 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 2,500 | 14,500 | N/A | 17,000 | 17,000 |
