Gold and silver futures kicked off the new trading week on Monday with modest losses, but they did rebound from their intraday lows.
Gold for August delivery settled down $3.90, or 0.3%, to $1,319.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures traded from a low of $1,311.10 to a high of $1,323.40.
"Despite two consecutive weeks of scaling back speculative net length in gold, positions on COMEX remain relatively elevated at 94 percent of the record," Reuters quoted UBS Strategist Joni Teves. "This could make gold vulnerable in the near-term, should the market increasingly price in a more hawkish Fed."
Last week, gold slipped 0.3% for a second straight weekly decline after having logged six consecutive weeks of gains.
Silver for September delivery fell 4.2 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $19.647 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $19.35 to $19.76. They sank 2.4% last week, their first weekly loss in two months.
In rounding out the precious metals complex:
-
October platinum was unchanged at $1,088.40 an ounce, trading between $1,072.30 and $1,095.10.
- Palladium for September delivery added $2.70, or 0.4%, to $688.75 an ounce, ranging from $675.80 to $689.85.
The two metals split last week with platinum falling 0.6% and palladium soaring 6%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold declined $7.60, or 0.6%, to $1,313.15 an ounce.
- Silver lost 29 cents, or 1.5%, to $19.41 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week in London bullion, gold fell 0.5%, silver dropped 2.2%, platinum was unchanged and palladium advanced 6%.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
United States Mint bullion sales logged wide gains on Monday, including:
- 17,100 ounces in American Platinum Eagles,
- 4,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles,
- 1,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos, and
- 125,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
Gains in Platinum Eagles are the first this year, and are already 200 ounces higher than sales in calendar year 2014 when the coins were last offered.
Demand for American Silver Eagles has slowed in the last few weeks but their sales are still tracking a record. Their year-to-date total of 27,570,500 coins is 12.6% higher than the amount sold through same time in record-breaking year 2015.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. 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 | June Sales | July Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins | 17,100 | N/A | N/A | 17,100 | 17,100 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 2,500 | 7,000 | 62,500 | 25,000 | 431,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 48,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 2,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 96,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 15,000 | 15,000 | 70,000 | 40,000 | 545,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 3,5000 | 14,500 | 9,000 | 121,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 125,000 | 500,000 | 2,837,500 | 1,320,000 | 27,570,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 34,200 | 0 | 34,200 |
