Precious Metals Gain Monday, Feb. 8

Precious metals started the new week logging gains ranging from 0.5% for palladium to 3.7% for platinum. Gold’s gain was its second in a row after finishing Thursday at a more than two-month low.

Gold for April delivery settled up $21.20, or 1.2%, to $1,834.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"Yellen talking about full employment by 2022 with $2 trillion in stimulus is driving the likelihood of a surge in inflation, which is good for gold," Reuters quoted Tai Wong, head of base and precious metals derivatives trading at BMO.

Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,807.30 to a high of $1,840.60. They fell 2% last week. On Thursday, they finished at their worst price since Nov. 30.

Silver for March delivery surged 55.7 cents, or 2.1%, to settle at $27.576 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $26.93 and $27.70. They inched 0.4% higher last week. Last Monday, they closed at $29.418 an ounce for their best settlement since Feb. 19, 2013.

In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:

• April platinum jumped $42.40 to $1,175.20 an ounce, ranging from $1,137.50 to $1,186.90.

• Palladium for March delivery added $10.40 to $2,336.70 an ounce, trading between $2,322 and $2,357.50.

Last week platinum gained 5% and palladium surged 5.3%.

London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)

In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:

• Gold tacked on $32.30, or 1.8%, to $1,835.25 an ounce.
• Silver jumped 65 cents, or 2.5%, to $27.18 an ounce.

In LBMA results last week, prices fell 3.3% for gold, they declined 3.2% for silver, they rose 1% for platinum and they added 0.5% for palladium.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021

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. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.