Precious metals futures kicked off the new trading week with gains ranging from less than 0.1% for silver to 1.3% for palladium. Gold scored its best close in 11 weeks while palladium logged a fresh, more than 16-year high.
Gold for December delivery climbed $5.10, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,296.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was the strongest since June 6 when the yellow metal ended at $1,297.50 an ounce.
"Gold has rallied during the recent market setback and is now testing its key resistance level of $1,300," MarketWatch quoted Matt Maley, an equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. "That is the level that stopped rallies in both April and June, so if it can finally break above the level in any significant way, it’s going to be very positive for the yellow metal."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,286.20 to a high of $1,299.70. They edged down 0.2% last week. Earlier Friday, gold notched its best intraday price of the year at $1,306.90 an ounce.
Meanwhile, silver for September delivery added 1.5 cents, or 0.09%, to settle at $17.015 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.83 and $17.12. They slipped 0.4% last week.
In other precious metals futures on Monday:
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October platinum added $3.10, or 0.3%, to $985.50 an ounce, ranging from $979.10 to $989.90.
- Palladium for September delivery gained $11.90, or 1.3%, to $939 an ounce — the highest close since February 2001. The precious metal traded between $922.80 and $939.35.
Last week, palladium fell 0.7% but palladium surged 3.6%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold lost $2.90 or 0.2%, to 1,292.90 an ounce.
- Silver declined 13 cents, or 0.8%, to $17.02 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, London bullion prices registered increases of 0.8% for gold, 0.4% for silver, 0.1% for platinum, and 3.8% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
United States Mint bullion sales advanced by 4,500 ounces in gold coins and by 190,000 ounces in silver coins.
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 | July | August | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,500 | 0 | 13,500 | 6,000 | 161,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 29,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 54,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 15,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 15,000 | 305,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 0 | 6,000 | 2,500 | 74,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 190,000 | 125,000 | 2,320,000 | 425,000 | 14,978,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
