Precious metals futures performed mixed Monday with platinum and palladium gaining and gold and silver falling.
Gold for December delivery edged down 80 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $1,222.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was the lowest since last Tuesday, Nov. 20.
"The metal could be in for a sizeable drop should support at $1,220 break, in which case a return back down to the next support at $1,205 would become likely," Reuters quoted Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst with Forex.com.
"With the 10-year U.S. bond yields on the rise again, this may support the greenback and simultaneously prevent gold from going higher."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,221.80 to a high of $1,228.60. They rose 20 cents last week. On Wednesday, they ended at $1,228 an ounce for their best close since Nov. 7.
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery lost 3.8 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $14.205 an ounce. The finish was the lowest since Nov. 14. Silver futures traded between $14.19 and $14.42. They fell 1% last week. On Wednesday, they settled at $14.502 an ounce for their highest finish since Nov. 7.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
-
January platinum added $2.80, or 0.3%, to $847.80 an ounce, ranging from $842.70 to $852.20.
- Palladium for December delivery added $10.20, or 0.9%, to $1,124.70 an ounce, trading between $1,100.30 and $1,131.
Both metals fell last week with platinum slipping 0.2% and palladium dropping 3.5%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold dipped 25 cents, or less than 0.1%, to 1,223.40 an ounce.
- Silver gained 12.5 cents, or 0.9%, to $14.38 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight
In LBMA results last week, prices for gold climbed 0.1% while others declined by 0.2% for silver, 0.5% for platinum and 3.1% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
The United States Mint has not reported any bullion sales increases in more than a week. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | October | November | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 21,000 | 5,000 | 177,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 62,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 225,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,500 | 3,000 | 117,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,430,000 | 1,270,000 | 14,835,000 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Voyageurs 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Cumberland Island 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,500 |
