Gold, silver and platinum futures closed higher to start the new trading week on Monday. Gains in gold and silver were their first in three sessions.
Gold for June delivery tacked on $10.20, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,240.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"A short-covering bounce in the futures market and bargain hunting in the cash market were featured, following the selling pressure seen late last week," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "A weaker U.S. dollar index was also supportive for the precious metals markets."
Gold prices ranged from a low of $1,231.30 to a high of $1,238.90. They declined 0.4% last week, their second straight weekly fall.
Silver for May delivery increased 10.9 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $17.009 an ounce. Silver prices traded between $16.81 and $17.12. They surged 3.6% last week for their third weekly gain in a row.
In other precious metals futures on Monday:
-
July platinum added $7.30, or 0.7%, to $1,018.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,000.30 to $1,020.60.
- Palladium for June delivery shed 60 cents, 0.1%, to $605.60 an ounce, trading between $595 and $609.05.
In trading overall last week, the two posted gains of 2.2% and 6.7%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold fell $4.35, or 0.4%, to $1,238.90 an ounce.
- Silver fell 33 cents, or 1.9%, to $16.86 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, London bullion prices advanced by 1.3% for gold, 6.3% for silver, 4.3% for platinum and 7.6% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged Monday as of 3:01 p.m. Eastern Time. Earlier in the day, the Mint said American Silver Eagle sales this week would be limited to 1,087,500 coins, which includes the 87,500 carried over from last week. 2016 Silver Eagles are at a record sales pace of 17,912,500 coins, marking a 25.8% increase from the same time in record year 2015.
Below is a sales breakdown of United States Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods of time.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Mar Sales | Apr Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 30,000 | 29,000 | 78,000 | 263,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 35,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 12,000 | 64,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 75,000 | 40,000 | 360,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 7,000 | 16,000 | 76,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 912,500 | 4,106,000 | 3,070,000 | 17,912,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 64,000 | 0 | 64,000 | 64,000 |
Mike Unser – It is interesting to note that although the U.S. Mint is still “rationing” sales of the American Silver Eagle bullion coins, due to planchet shortages, their 13 worldwide bullion coin Authorized purchasers have left coins on the table unsold for about 4 different weeks very recently. The sales are slowing down for some reason on the bullion versions. The number one silver bullion coin in the world should sell out of the allotment every week quickly with worldwide demand & 4 of the U.S. Mint bullion coin Authorized Purchasers are companies in Japan, Germany (2) & Luxembourg.… Read more »
Seth,
I think folks are waiting for the price of silver to drop again before purchasing. Roll the dice.
Joe C. –
I think you are right on that. With silver going a little above $17 one day & back below $17 the next day, people are probably just sitting on the sidelines waiting for more stability in silver prices.
-NumisDudeTX