Precious metals futures were mixed Monday with gold and silver finishing slightly higher and platinum and palladium ending lower.
Gold for June delivery rose $1.60, or 0.1%, to close at $1,277.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold got a bit of a safe-haven bid overnight due to rising tensions between the U.S. and Iran," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a note. "However, those gains were lost during the U.S. day session as trader and investor attitudes are still generally upbeat amid U.S. stock index prices that are trending higher and not far below their record highs scored last fall."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,277.40 to a high of $1,281.90. They gave back 1.5% in the holiday-shortened trading time last week — their fourth straight weekly decline — and ended at their lowest level since Dec. 26.
Silver for May delivery gained 2 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $14.975 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $14.96 and $15.04. They shed less than 0.1% last week.
In other precious metals futures Monday:
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July platinum fell $1.50, or 0.2%, to $902.20 an ounce, ranging from $897.60 to $918.30.
- Palladium for June delivery dropped $28.70, or 2.1%, to $1,369.80 an ounce, trading between $1,360 and $1,417.20.
Last week, platinum rose 0.6% and palladium jumped 3.6%.
London Precious Metals Prices
London markets shut down for Good Friday and Easter Monday holiday. The most recent price changes from Wednesday PM to Thursday PM had:
- Gold down 15 cents to $1,275.70 an ounce.
- Silver down 4.5 cent, or 0.3%, to $14.955 an ounce.
- Platinum down $4, or 0.5%, to $890 an ounce.
- Palladium down $25, or 1.8%, to $1,395 an ounce.
In LBMA results for the last week, palladium rose 2.2% while other metal prices registered losses of 1.4% for gold, 0.7% for silver and 1% for platinum.
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 | 2,100 | 35,600 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 11,000 | 8,500 | 3,000 | 67,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 19,000 |
| $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 | 0 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 130,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 6,000 | 5,500 | 4,500 | 39,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,057,500 | 850,000 | 550,000 | 7,475,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 80,000 | 0 | 80,000 |
