In precious metals trading on Monday, palladium gained while silver, gold and platinum declined. Gold’s loss was attributed to strength in the U.S. dollar.
Gold for June delivery lost $15.90, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,698 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The rise in the U.S. dollar has pushed gold into the red," MarketWatch quoted David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, adding that prices haven’t moved much below the $1,700 mark.
"Some traders are nervous about the prospect of a second wave of Covid-19 as economies begin to re-open, so that has probably prevented gold from falling further," he said in a market update.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,692.10 to a high of $1,713.80. They climbed 0.8% last week.
Silver for July delivery declined 9.8 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $15.68 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.51 and $15.92. They rallied 5.6% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
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July platinum fell $8, or 1%, to $781.30 an ounce, ranging from $774.20 to $800.60.
- Palladium for June delivery rose $7, or 0.4%, to $1,828.10 an ounce, trading between $1,805 and $1,914.50.
Last week, platinum gained 2% and palladium fell 2.5%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
Markets in London closed Friday for a public holiday. In comparing LBMA prices from Thursday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold dipped $1.30, or 0.08%, to $1,702.75 an ounce.
- Silver jumped 46.5 cents, or 3.1%, to $15.445 an ounce.
In LBMA results last week, prices rose 1.1% for gold and 0.9% for silver while they fell 0.9% for platinum and 6.4% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Monday. 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 | April | May | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 105,000 | 2,000 | 281,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 38,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 50,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 175,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 28,500 | 0 | 116,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 750,000 | 0 | 10,728,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,500 | 0 | 56,500 |
In terms of 5-ounce silver bullion sales for 2020, the U.S. Mint is working on getting them automated and reported. Initial U.S. Mint-provided figures have the first two 2020-dated pieces at 45,000 produced and sold per issue. These amounts are being verified.
