Precious metals futures declined in their start to the new trading week on Monday. Silver retreated 0.2% while gold, platinum and palladium each slipped 0.6%.
Gold for February delivery fell $11.50 to settle at $1,832.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Dec. 2.
Gold is weighed down by "this wave of vaccine news across the western countries as they start to roll it out," Ed Meir, an analyst at ED&F Man Capital Markets, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "But I read how complicated this distribution process is going to be. So I don’t know if the euphoria is getting a little ahead of itself."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,820 to a high of $1,845.60. They edged 0.2% higher last week.
Silver for March delivery gave back 4.5 cents to close at $24.047 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $23.75 and $24.37. They declined 0.7% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
-
January platinum lost $6.20 to $1,015.60 an ounce, ranging from $1,005.20 to $1,034.20.
- Palladium for March delivery fell $14.20 to $2,318.90 an ounce, trading between $2,304 and $2,340.50.
Last week platinum dropped 4.8% and palladium fell 1.1%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold lost $10.85, or 0.6%, to $1,831.15 an ounce.
- Silver rose 4 cents, or 0.2%, to $23.855 an ounce.
In LBMA results last week, prices fell 0.05% for gold, 1.7% for silver, 4.8% for platinum and 0.8% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales increased Monday by 5,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles. 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 | October | November | December | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 5,000 | 24,000 | 64,500 | 77,000 | 35,500 | 734,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 68,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 106,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 25,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 350,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 19,500 | 23,500 | 7,000 | 238,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 475,000 | 3,397,000 | 4,805,000 | 751,000 | 30,089,500 |
| 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 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,500 |
