Precious metals futures sank Monday, posting losses that ranged from 2.6% for gold to 10.1% for silver. The pair logged respective 2-month and 7-week settlement lows.
Gold for December delivery fell $51.50 to settle at $1,910.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was gold’s weakest since July 24.
"The metals met strong selling pressure amid bearish ‘outside markets’ today that included solid gains in the U.S. dollar index and big losses in crude oil futures prices. As has been seen several times the past few months, the safe-haven metals could not catch a bid amid despite a global stock market sell off to start the trading week, including big losses in the U.S. stock indexes," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,885.40 to a high of $1,962.90. They climbed 0.7% last week.
Silver for December delivery sank $2.74 to settle at $24.387 an ounce. The finish was silver’s lowest since July 31. Silver futures traded between $23.78 and $27.13. They gained 1% last week.
In PGM futures on Monday:
-
October platinum lost $62.40, or 6.7%, to $876.10 an ounce, ranging from $854.80 to $945.
- Palladium for December delivery fell $99.10, or 4.2%, to $2,281.70 an ounce, trading between $2,250.60 and $2,409.80.
Last week platinum dipped 0.1% and palladium jumped 2.2%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold fell $41.50, or 2.1%, to $1,909.35 an ounce.
- Silver dropped 70 cents, or 2.6%, to $26.36 an ounce.
In LBMA results last week, gains reached 0.2% for gold, 0.7% for silver, 1.1% for platinum and 0.9% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales increased Monday by a combined 13,500 ounces in gold coins and 184,000 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 | July | August | September | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 9,500 | 7,500 | 107,500 | 104,000 | 18,500 | 557,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 1,000 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 3,000 | 58,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 0 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 4,000 | 88,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 35,000 | 70,000 | 10,000 | 290,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 3,000 | 1,000 | 30,000 | 28,000 | 41,500 | 188,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 184,000 | 331,000 | 1,084,500 | 4,477,000 | 1,595,000 | 19,733,000 |
| America Samoa 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Weir Farm 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Salt River Bay 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Marsh Billings 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 45,000 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,500 |
