Precious metals futures traded lower in their start to the new week on Monday. Losses ranged for less than 0.1% for gold to 1.2% for palladium.
Gold for April delivery dipped 80 cents to settle at $1,336.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Jan. 22.
"A bit of safe-haven demand was featured as world equity markets are selling off, led by strong down-moves in the U.S. stock indexes," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "However, a rally in the U.S. dollar index to start the trading week worked to mitigate buying interest in the precious metals markets."
Gold futures traded from a low of $1,331.60 to a high of $1,341.30. They slipped 1.1% last week.
Silver for March delivery lost 3.8 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $16.671 an ounce. The close was the lowest since Dec. 26. Silver futures ranged from $16.51 to $16.87. They sank 4.2% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
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April platinum declined $3.90, or 0.4%, to $995.50 an ounce, trading between $990.50 and $1,000.60.
- Palladium for March delivery fell $12, or 1.2%, to $1,032.95 an ounce, ranging from $1,028.15 to $1,045.85.
Both metals fell last week with losses of 1.9% for platinum and 3.7% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold added $2.45, or 0.2%, to $1,333.60 an ounce.
- Silver declined 26 cents, or 1.5%, to $16.875 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, LBMA precious metals prices registered losses of 1.6% for gold, 1.5% for silver, 2% for platinum and 3.7% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales advanced by 1,000 ounces in gold coins and by 225,000 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 | January | February | 2018 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 2,000 | 38,000 | 36,000 | 1,500 | 37,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 16,000 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 26,000 | 0 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 25,000 | 80,000 | 0 | 80,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 1,500 | 14,000 | 24,000 | 1,500 | 25,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 225,000 | 140,000 | 742,000 | 3,235,000 | 225,000 | 3,460,000 |
This article was edited to include updated U.S. Mint bullion figures.
