Precious metals futures ended lower on Monday after they posted solid gains in the prior session and for last week.
Gold for June delivery shed $5.90, or 0.5%, to close at $1,183 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold’s got no story of its own right now for traders, so it’s following the ups and downs of the euro against the dollar instead," MarketWatch quoted Adrian Ash, head of research at BullionVault.
The yellow metal ranged from a low of $1,178 to a high of $1,190.90. Gold prices advanced last week by 1.2% for their first weekly increase in four.
Silver for July delivery lost 15 cents, or 0.9%, to $16.31 an ounce, trading between $16.20 and $16.55. Silver prices shot up 2.1% last week.
In rounding out the precious metals complex:
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July platinum declined $16.20, or 1.4%, to $1,127.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,122.60 to $1,143.50.
- Palladium for June delivery dropped by $21.90, or 2.7%, to $780.45 an ounce, trading between $771 and $802.35.
Both metals climbed last week with increases totaling 1.2% for platinum and 3.7% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London precious metals prices divided on the day. In comparing London bullion prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold added $3.25, or 0.3%, to $1,189.25 an ounce,
- Silver rose 8 cents, or 0.5%, to $16.39 an ounce,
- Platinum fell $8, or 0.7%, to $1,132 an ounce, and
- Palladium dropped $15, or 1.9%, to $783 an ounce.
Last week, London bullion prices increases by 0.9% for silver and gold, 1.2% for platinum and 3.4% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in May
United States Mint bullion sales were limited Monday to silver coins. American Silver Eagles rose by 50,000. Below is a listing of U.S. Mint bullion products that shows the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | April Sales | May Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,500 | 23,500 | 2,500 | 125,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 29,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 54,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 15,000 | 30,000 | 15,000 | 280,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,500 | 10,000 | 1,500 | 67,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 50,000 | 833,500 | 2,851,500 | 883,500 | 15,806,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | |||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 12,000 | 30,000 | 12,000 | 42,000 |
