Precious metals futures divided Monday with platinum and palladium rising and gold and silver falling. Gold and silver each ended the day near two-week lows.
Gold for December delivery declined $6.70, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,456.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Nov. 12.
"Improving risk appetite is never good news for gold prices, which are trading a little lower at the start of the week. The fact that this is being driven by promising trade headlines is only further damaging the yellow metal," MarketWatch quoted Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,453.90 to a high of $1,462. They inched 0.3% lower last week.
Silver for December delivery shed 11.4 cents, or 0.7%, to settle at $16.886 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.82 and $16.96. They edged 0.3% higher last week. The close was also the lowest since Nov. 12.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
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January platinum gained $7.80, or 0.9%, to $900.40 an ounce, ranging from $891.50 to $903.10.
- Palladium for December delivery tacked on $28, or 1.6%, to $1,771.40 an ounce, trading between $1,744 and $1,785.70.
The two metals divided last week with platinum sliding 0.2% and palladium rising 3.6%,
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold shed $6.05, or 0.4%, to $1,458.40 an ounce.
- Silver dropped 30.5 cents, or 1.8%, to $16.87 an ounce.
In LBMA results last week, prices for gold slipped 0.2% while those for silver advanced 1.8%.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales rose by 32,500 ounces in silver coins. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | October | November | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 | 106,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 5,000 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 190,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 60,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 233,000 | 1,110,500 | 463,000 | 14,863,500 |
| Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 5 Oz Silver Coin | 6,500 | 13,500 | N/A | 20,000 | 2,0000 |
| San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 17,500 | 0 | 55,200 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 500 | 0 | 72,500 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | |||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | |||
