Gold and silver futures ended lower on Monday for a fourth session in a row while platinum and palladium advanced together for a second straight session.
Gold for August delivery dipped $2.50, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,268.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,265.60 to a high of $1,272.40.
"A lack of new, bullish fundamental developments on the geopolitical front has somewhat limited buying interest in the safe-haven metal, and has allowed some profit taking from the shorter-term futures traders to set in," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report.
Last Tuesday, gold settled at its highest price since Nov. 4. The yellow metal declined 0.7% last week for its first weekly loss in five weeks.
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery dropped 27.9 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $16.944 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.89 and $17.22. They lost 1.7% last week, for their first weekly decline in four weeks.
In other precious metals futures on Monday:
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July platinum added $4.20, or 0.5%, to $944.50 an ounce, ranging from $938.30 to $949.20.
- Palladium for September delivery added $8.05, or 0.9%, to $864.25 an ounce, trading between $857.10 and $879.10. The settlement is the highest since September 2014.
"The palladium market is experiencing a short-squeeze, which we believe is driven by investment demand rather than industrial demand," Reuters quoted Julius Baer analyst Carsten Menke. "Eventually, the weaker demand backdrop from automotive catalysts should be reflected in deteriorating sentiment and falling prices."
Last week, platinum fell 1.4% while palladium advanced 2.7%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold slipped 15 cents to $1,266.40 an ounce.
- Silver declined 22 cents, or 1.3%, to $17.13 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week in LBMA prices, gold shed 0.7% while silver, platinum and palladium advanced by 0.9%; 0.8%; and 7%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
U.S. Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 3:24 p.m. ET. 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 | Last Week / June | May | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 137,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 30,000 | 245,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 5,000 | 64,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 229,000 | 2,455,000 | 11,476,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 5,600 | 28,200 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,400 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 17,200 | N/A/ | 17,200 |
