Precious metals were mixed Monday. Gold and silver futures closed only slightly lower. Both, however, settled at about 21-week lows.
Gold for February delivery dipped $1.50, or 0.1%, to close at $1,246.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the weakest since July 20 when prices ended at $1,245.50 an ounce.
"Speculators, having positioned themselves for a break [for gold] above $1,300 per ounce, got wrong-footed on a combination of a U.S. tax deal moving closer and the stronger dollar," MarketWatch quoted Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank, capturing the recent decline.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,242.40 to a high of $1,253.40. They fell 2.6% last week.
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery declined 3.8 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $15.785 an ounce. The close is the lowest since July 13 when prices ended at $15.691 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $15.70 to $15.91. They dropped 3.5% last week.
In other precious metals prices:
-
January platinum gained $9.10, or 1%, to $892.80 an ounce, trading between $883.70 and $893.30.
- Palladium for March delivery added $2.35, or 0.2%, to $998.75 an ounce, ranging from $993.25 and $1,002.
Last week, platinum plunged 6.1% and palladium fell 2%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold declined $3.50, or 0.3%, to 1,247.15 an ounce.
- Silver rose a penny, or less than 0.1%, to $15.835 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, London bullion prices posted losses reaching 2% for gold, 3.6% for silver, 4.5% for platinum and 0.7% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
United States Mint bullion sales soared with gold coins advancing by a total of 33,500 ounces and silver coins rising by 622,000 ounces. The one- day of gains for gold coins was nearly more than their advances in the last two months combined.
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 | November | December | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 21,000 | 0 | 9,500 | 21,000 | 211,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 3,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 37,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 64,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 15,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 395,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 8,500 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 9,500 | 95,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 622,000 | 120,000 | 385,000 | 742,000 | 18,065,500 |
| 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 |
| 2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
| 2017 George Rogers Clark 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 32,400 | 0 | 32,400 |
