Gold prices settled higher on Monday for a fifth session in a row and notched a new, more than three-month high.
Gold for June delivery settled up $2.30, or 0.2%, to $1,227.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close is the highest since Feb 10 when gold ended at $1,232.20 an ounce.
"The U.S. data has been a lot weaker than expected, which has calmed investors who had been expecting a June or July rate hike," Reuters quoted Capital Economics analyst Simona Gambarini. "We’re of the view that September is the most likely date when the Fed will raise rates. If the data continues to be weaker, we would expect gold to react quite strongly."
The precious metal moved from a low of $1,221.20 to a high of $1,232. Gold prices surged last week by 3.1%.
Silver for July delivery tacked on 17 cents, or 1%, to close at $17.73 an ounce. Prices ranged from $17.48 to $17.78. Silver rallied 6.7% last week.
In other precious metals dealings:
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July platinum added $9.40, or 0.8%, to $1,178.50 an ounce, trading between $1,164 and $1,179.90.
- Palladium for June delivery fell $1.95, or 0.3%, to $793 an ounce, ranging from $787.75 to $798.55.
Last week, platinum jumped 2.2% but palladium slipped 0.9%.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London precious metals prices rose. In comparing London bullion prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold gained $3, or 0.3%, to $1,223.50 an ounce,
- Silver jumped 45 cents, or 2.6, to $17.70 an ounce,
- Platinum added $16, or 1.4%, to $1,174 an ounce, and
- Palladium rose $12, or 1.5%, to $797 an ounce.
Gold, silver and platinum logged gains last week of 2.9%, 5.8% and 1.6%. Palladium declined 1.6%.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in May
United States Mint bullion sales grew on Monday, posting gains of 1,500 ounces in gold coins and 250,000 ounces in silver coins.
In the latest American Silver Eagle milestone, their sales topped the 16 million mark to 16,231,000 for the year. The total is higher than annual sales in 22 of 29 previous years but down from last year’s record pace. In year 2014 when Silver Eagles ended at a record 44,006,000, the coins by May 18, 2014 reached sales of more than 20.7 million.
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 | 500 | 1,000 | 23,500 | 4,000 | 126,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 31,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 6,000 | 54,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 30,000 | 20,000 | 285,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 4,500 | 70,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 250,000 | 225,000 | 2,851,500 | 1,308,500 | 16,231,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | |||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 12,000 | 42,000 |
