Gold, and most other precious metals, ended lower in the start to the new trading week Monday. The yellow metal posted is weakest settlement in five weeks.
Gold for June delivery declined $3.90, or 0.3%, to close at $1,291.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest for the most active contract since March 11.
"Gold is coming towards the support level of $1,280. People are anticipating that if gold dips in this level and the buyers step back in, it might create a short-term bottom, making it an opportunistic time to start pursuing gold," Reuters quoted Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors.
"Overall, this week is going to be really slow in terms of volume, as the prices will fluctuate; it will seem a little more volatile because there will be less market participants."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,286.30 to a high of $1,295.20. They dipped 40 cents last week, for their third straight weekly loss.
Silver for May delivery inched up 1.2 cents, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $14.975 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $14.79 and $14.99. They fell last week by 0.8%.
In other major precious metals prices Monday:
-
July platinum fell $4, or 0.5%, to $894.50 an ounce, ranging from $882.50 to $898.30.
- Palladium for June delivery dropped $15.50, or 1.2%, to $1,334.70 an ounce, trading between $1,332.80 and $1,349.60.
They moved opposite of each other last week with platinum falling 0.8% and palladium rising 0.3%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM
- Gold lost $8.65, or 0.7%, to $1,285.65 an ounce.
- Silver declined 13 cents, or 0.9%, to $14.935 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
In LBMA results last week, gold added 0.5% and palladium gained 1% while silver shed 0.9% and platinum lost 0.4%.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. 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 | February | March | April | 2019 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 500 | 2,400 | 4,000 | 1,600 | 35,100 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 11,000 | 8,500 | 3,000 | 67,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 18,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 125,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 5,500 | 4,000 | 39,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,157,500 | 850,000 | 550,000 | 7,575,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 80,000 | 0 | 80,000 |
