Precious metals futures logged another day of gains in their start to the new trading week on Monday. Advances in gold and silver were their third in a row, with the former ending near a 3-week high and the latter closing at an almost 2-week high.
Gold for April delivery tacked on $3.80, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,234 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since March 1 when prices ended at $1,250 an ounce.
Monday’s "move seemed to reflect lingering reverberations from the [Fed] rate decision. The central bank raised rates as widely expected, but offered nothing to propel the hawkish narrative beyond status-quo projections," MarketWatch quoted Ilya Spivak, currency and metals analyst with Daily FX.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,228.80 to a high of $1,234.50. Last week, they climbed 2.4% for their first weekly increase in three weeks.
Meanwhile, silver for May delivery settled up 2.5 cents, or 0.1%, to $17.438 an ounce, marking another finish at its best price since Mar. 7. Silver futures traded between $17.36 and $17.48. They gained 2.9% last week following two straight weekly declines.
In rounding out precious metals futures dealings:
-
April platinum moved up $9.40, or 1%, to $972.40 an ounce, ranging from $962.10 to $973.30.
- Palladium for June delivery added $5.85, or 0.8%, to $781.65 an ounce, trading between $772.65 and $785.65..
The two metals posted gains last week of 2.6% and 4.1%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold rose $2.80, or 0.2%, to $1,232.40 an ounce.
- Silver fell 17 cents, or 1%, to $17.23 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, London metal prices registered increases of 2.2% for gold, 3% for silver, 1.9% for platinum and 3.5% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2017
U.S. Mint bullion products logged advances of:
- 4,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles,
- 1,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos, and
- 715,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
With today’s gains alone, Silver Eagle sales this week will close the highest since at least the week ended Jan. 20.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing 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 | Feb Sales | Mar Sales | 2017 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 2,500 | 21,000 | 10,000 | 117,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 42,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 5,000 | 20,000 | 30,000 | 35,000 | 190,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,500 | 2,500 | 15,000 | 4,500 | 51,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 715,000 | 220,000 | 1,215,000 | 1,215,000 | 7,557,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 19,500 | 0 | 19,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | ||||
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coin* | – | ||||
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coin* | – | ||||
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
