Precious metals futures posted gains Monday that ranged from 0.4% for gold to 2.2% for silver. The latter ended near a four-year high.
Gold for August delivery settled up $7.40 to $1,817.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was the strongest since July 8 when gold finished near a nine-year high.
"There has been a steady flow of safe-haven and chart-based buying in the two precious metals [gold and silver] recently," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,806.60 to a high of $1,823.40. They climbed 0.5% last week, for their sixth straight weekly increase.
Silver for September delivery rallied 42.8 cents to end at $20.192 an ounce. The settlement was the strongest since Aug. 4, 2016, when the precious metal finished at $20.443 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $19.65 and $20.30. They jumped 3.7% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
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October platinum rose $8.30, or 1%, to $857.90 an ounce, ranging from $845.60 to $868.60.
- Palladium for September delivery finished up $37.70, or 1.8%, to $2,109.40 an ounce, trading between $2,045.50 and $2,121.
Last week, platinum gained 0.4% and palladium advanced 3.9%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold added $8.30, or 0.5%, to $1,815.65 an ounce.
- Silver added 28 cents, or 1.5%, to $19.44 an ounce.
In LBMA results last week, prices for platinum fell 1.3% while those for gold, silver and palladium rose 0.2%, 2.1%, and 4.1%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
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 | May | June | July | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 5,500 | 42,500 | 13,500 | 341,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 41,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 12,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 175,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,500 | 7,500 | 5,000 | 131,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 490,000 | 1,378,000 | 0 | 12,596,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 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.
