Gold futures on Monday gave back a portion of their gains from last week as the U.S. dollar recovered more of the weighty declines suffered on Thursday when the euro rallied for its biggest one-day increase since 2009.
Falling for the first time in three sessions, gold for February delivery shed $8.90, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,075.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The precious metal ranged from a low of $1,070.40 to a high of $1,086.10.
"Given the steep decline we’ve seen in gold prices in 2015, periodic price spikes should be expected, just like the one we witnessed on Friday," MarketWatch quoted Michael Armbruster, principal and co-founder at Altavest. "Until the charts give gold bugs a reason to buy, the sideline in the gold market is a better investment decision than a wager on higher prices."
Gold prices surged 2.2% on Friday, advancing last week by 2.6% for their first weekly increase in seven weeks. The yellow metal is now 9.2% lower on the year.
Also lower for the first time in three sessions, silver for March delivery fell 20 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $14.33 an ounce. Silver prices traded from $14.24 to $14.64. They soared 3.4% last week.
In other precious metals dealings on Monday:
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January platinum declined $17.40, or 2%, to $863.20 an ounce, ranging from $852.40 to $887.70.
- Palladium for March delivery lost $11.40, or 2%, to $555.45 an ounce, trading between $546.05 and $569.05.
Last week, platinum jumped 5.4% while palladium moved 2.9% higher.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices were mixed. In comparing their prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold dipped $3.45, or 0.3%, to $1,075.80 an ounce.
- Silver tacked on 36 cents, or 2.6%, to $14.49 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, palladium fell 1.6% while the other metal prices logged increases of 2.1% for gold, 0.1% for silver and 3.9% for platinum.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:50 p.m. ET. There is limited room for gains with most 2015 American Gold Eagles sold out, all five-ounce 2015 America the Beautiful silver coins sold out, and 2015 American Silver Eagles restricted this week to 1,075,000 million coins.
Below is a listing of U.S. 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 | Nov Sales | Dec Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | 80,500 | N/A | 626,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 0 | 74,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | 12,000 | N/A | 158,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins* | N/A | N/A | 100,000 | N/A | 980,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins* | 0 | 3,000 | 38,000 | 0 | 219,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 920,500 | 4,824,000 | 183,500 | 44,850,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | 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 | ||||
| 2015 Saratoga 5 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | 45,000 | 35,800 | 9,200 | 45,000 |
