Precious metals futures finished lower in their start to the new trading week on Monday. Gold and silver each settled at one-month lows.
Gold for December delivery declined $5.50, or 0.5%, to close at $1,135.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Oct. 1 when prices ended at $1,113.70 an ounce.
"The gold and silver markets have been reeling since last week’s hawkish FOMC statement," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Technical selling pressure has also increased the past few sessions as the near-term chart postures for both gold and silver are again favoring the bears."
Gold prices traded from a low of $1,132.50 to a high of $1,142.70. They dived 1.8% last week yet still rallied in October by 2.4%.
For more than two weeks now, silver has been logging daily successive up and down closings. On Monday, silver for December delivery fell 16 cents, or 1%, to end at $15.41 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since Oct. 2 when the white metal finished at $15.26 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $15.25 to $15.55. They soared last month by 7.2% despite last week’s loss of 1.6%.
In other precious metals futures:
-
January platinum lost $10.70, or 1.1%, to $978.40 an ounce, trading between $971.40 and $986.40.
- Palladium for December delivery tumbled $26.90, or 4%, to $650.35 an ounce, ranging from $645.95 to $676.25.
Last month, platinum jumped 8.8% and palladium surged 4%.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices also declined. In comparing their prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold fell $8.35, or 0.7%, to $1,134 an ounce.
- Silver lost 19 cents, or 1.2%, to $15.63 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in October
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 4:40 PM ET. Often times, bullion coins race out of the gate on Monday’s, but then demand for them has retreated in recent weeks.
In related news, the U.S. Mint this week limited Silver Eagle sales to 1,187,000 coins. The agency has restricted weekly sales of bullion American Silver Eagles since temporarily running out of them in early July.
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 / November | Last Week | Oct Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,500 | 26,000 | 546,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 4,000 | 67,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 146,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 50,000 | 880,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 500 | 10,500 | 181,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 856,500 | 3,788,000 | 39,842,500 |
| 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 | ||
| 2015 Bombay Hook 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | – | 45,000 | |
