Precious metals futures kicked off the new trading week with losses on Monday that ranged from less than 0.1% for gold to 2.3% to platinum.
Gold for February delivery dipped $1.20 to settle at $1,331.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold is shaking off an upside bounce to the dollar and looking at the possibility of a government shutdown," MarketWatch quoted Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago.
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,328 to a high of $1,335.80. They edged 0.1% lower last week, snapping a string of five weekly gains.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery lost 4.7 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $16.989 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $16.94 to $17.11. They declined 0.6% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
-
April platinum dropped $23.30 to $996.80 an ounce, trading between $994.80 and $1,023.90.
- Palladium for March delivery declined $6.10, or 0.6%, to $1,092.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,078.30 to $1,105.45.
Last week, platinum rose 2.4% while palladium fell 0.6%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold declined $2.35, or 0.2%, to $1,332.60 an ounce.
- Silver slipped a half penny, or less than 0.1%, to $17.035 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week in LBMA precious metals prices, silver fell 0.5% while the other metals posted advances of 0.6% for gold, 2% for platinum and 1.3% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales advanced by a combined 9,000 ounces in gold coins and by 250,000 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.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | December | 2017 Sales | 2018 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 4,500 | 3,500 | 38,000 | 228,500 | 35,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 2,000 | 3,000 | 37,000 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 64,000 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 395,000 | 80,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 2,500 | 2,500 | 14,000 | 99,500 | 23,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 250,000 | 250,000 | 742,000 | 18,065,500 | 3,020,000 |
