Precious metals ended mixed on Monday with gold easing while silver advanced for a fourth session in a row.
Gold for December delivery shed $5, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,132.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The precious metal traded from a low of $1,128.70 to a high of $1,139.40.
"The market had real differing opinions on whether the Fed would raise rates last Thursday, and we’re starting to get color now with what went on at the Fed meeting, and it appears it may well be closer than expected," Tai Wong, the director of commodity products trading at BMO Capital Markets Corp. in New York, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "That’s why we’ve seen gold drop."
Gold prices on Friday turned up 1.9% to notch a 3.1% weekly gain, their first in four weeks, after the Fed left interest rates unchanged.
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery rose 6 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $15.22 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $15.08 to $15.25. They rallied last week by 4.5%.
In other precious metals futures on Monday:
-
October platinum fell $10.70, or 1.1%, to $973.70 an ounce, trading between $969.60 and $984.60.
- Palladium for December delivery added $5.25, or 0.9%, to $616.10 an ounce, ranging from $601 to $618.90.
Last week, platinum gained 2% and palladium surged 3.4%.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices retreated. In comparing their prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold declined $8.25, or 0.7%, to $1,133.25 an ounce.
- Silver lost 8 cents, or 0.5%, to $15.18 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, London bullion prices logged gains of 3.8% for gold, 4.7% for silver, 1.5% for platinum and 4.1% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in September
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 4:14 p.m. ET. Below is a listing of United States Mint bullion products with 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 | August Sales | Sept Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 35,500 | 78,500 | 76,500 | 498,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 8,000 | 6,000 | 60,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 8,000 | 24,000 | 12,000 | 134,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 40,000 | 130,000 | 110,000 | 765,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 6,500 | 20,000 | 16,500 | 165,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 809,500 | 4,935,000 | 2,054,500 | 34,304,500 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | |||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 42,000 | |||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 45,000 | |||
