Gold, silver and platinum sank Monday, while palladium finished almost unchanged. Losses in gold and silver come on the heels of their seven-week settlement highs on Friday.
Gold for December delivery dropped $97.30, or 5%, to settle at $1,854.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was gold’s weakest since July 21.
Safe-havens saw pressure, opined analysts, on positive news about a COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
"News from Pfizer that it has developed a very promising Covid-19 vaccine spiked up risk appetite in the marketplace. Stock markets soared on the news, including U.S. indexes hitting record highs. The metals markets were also hit by a solid rally in the U.S. dollar index today," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,848 to a high of $1,966.10. They gained 3.8% last week, ending Friday at their highest price since Sept. 18.
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery tumbled $1.96, or 7.6%, to settle at $23.701. The finish was the lowest since Oct. 30. Silver futures traded between $23.60 and $26.14. They soared 8.5% last week, also closing Friday at their best level since Sept. 18.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
-
January platinum declined $32, or 3.6%, to $867.40 an ounce, ranging from $849.20 to $909.
- Palladium for December delivery shed 80 cents, or 0.03, to $2,499.20 an ounce, trading between $2,439.30 and $2,523.
Last week platinum jumped 6% and palladium surged 12.8%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold fell $73.50, or 3.8%, to $1,867.30 an ounce.
- Silver declined 67.5 cents, or 2.6%, to $25.105 an ounce.
In LBMA results last week, prices moved ahead 3.1% for gold, 9.1% for silver, 6.9% for platinum and 10% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales increased Monday by 1,048,000 ounces in silver coins and a combined 11,000 ounces in gold 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 | September | October | November | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 7,000 | 22,000 | 18,500 | 64,500 | 29,000 | 651,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 66,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 | 104,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 25,000 | 25,000 | 340,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,500 | 7,500 | 4,500 | 19,500 | 9,000 | 217,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 1,048,500 | 1,653,000 | 2,958,500 | 3,397,000 | 2,701,500 | 27,235,000 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Tallgrass Prairie 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 |
