Gold and silver futures bounced Monday, recouping a slice of their sharp losses on Friday. Platinum and palladium, meanwhile, added to their losses last week.
Gold for April delivery rose $28.10, or 1.8%, to settle at $1,594.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The major price slump at the end of last week was overdone. The situation remains in and around coronavirus causing insecurity in the markets … so gold prices are rising," Reuters quoted Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,576.30 to a high of $1,612.10. They gave back 5% last week, marking a 1.3% loss in February. Last Monday, they closed at $1,676.60 an ounce for their strongest settlement since Feb. 6, 2013.
Silver for March delivery climbed 28.2 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $16.739 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.44 and $17.06. They sank 11.2% last week, registering an 8.6% fall in February. Last Monday, the metal closed at $18.876 an ounce for its best finish since Sept. 4.
In other precious metals futures Monday:
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April platinum shed $5.30, or 0.6%, to $859.40 an ounce, ranging from $851 to $885.40.
- Palladium for June delivery declined $63.40, or 2.6%, to $2,427.70 an ounce, trading between $2,391 and $2,576.90. On Thursday, palladium notched a record settlement at $2,711.70 an ounce.
Last month, platinum fell 10.1% while palladium surged 12%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold declined $10.20, or 0.6%, to $1,599.65 an ounce.
- Silver fell 27 cents, or 1.6%, to $16.915 an ounce..
In LBMA results for last month, gold rose 1.6% and palladium advanced 18.5% while silver declined 3.9% and platinum dropped 9.2%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Friday. 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 | December | January | February | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 38,000 | 3,500 | 41,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 23,000 | 2,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 20,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 60,000 | 20,000 | 80,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 21,000 | 1,000 | 22,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,846,000 | 650,000 | 4,496,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 14,500 | 9,300 | 23,800 |
