Precious metals futures settled lower Monday in exceptionally low-volume trading. Losses ranged from 0.4% for platinum to 3.4% for silver.
Gold for February delivery gave back on Monday exactly what it gained on Thursday, $7.60 or 0.7%. Prices settled at $1,068.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The drop in oil prices overnight has reasserted some pressure on the gold and silver markets and although a softer tone may be expected this week, the metals should remain in a relatively tight range as the world gets ready to ring in 2016," said Peter Hug, global trading director, at Kitco Metals.
Gold prices traded from a low of $1,065.70 to a high of $1,076.50. They advanced 1% last week, their first weekly gain in three weeks.
Silver for March delivery tumbled 49.5 cents to settle at $13.884 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $13.85 to $14.43. They surged last week by 2%.
In other precious metals futures:
-
January platinum fell $3.40 to $880.80 an ounce, trading between $874.80 and $896.
- Palladium for March delivery declined $7.30, or 1.3%, to $551.95 an ounce, ranging from $551.10 and $564.90.
Last week, platinum gained 2.7% and palladium edged up 0.1%.
London Precious Metals Prices
London markets had been closed since Thursday morning. Metal prices then were:
- Gold at $1,071.90 an ounce.
- Silver at $14.20 an ounce.
- Platinum at $874 an ounce.
- Palladium at $554 an ounce.
As for last week, gains included 0.9% for gold, 2.7% for silver, 2.6% for platinum and 0.2% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Monday as of 3:40 p.m. ET. 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 | 1,000 | 75,000 |
| $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 | 0 | 38,000 | 1,500 | 220,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins* | N/A | N/A | 4,824,000 | 2,333,500 | 47,000,000 |
| 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 | 35,800 | 9,200 | 45,000 | |
