Precious metals declined at the start of the new trading week on Monday, led by a 1.4% drop in palladium. This marked the third consecutive loss for gold and silver.
Gold for August delivery moved back by $4.40, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,962.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold and silver prices were "pressured by the U.S. dollar index continuing its recovery after hitting a 15-month low last week. Focus of the marketplace is on a key central bank decision at mid-week," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,955.30 and $1,969.80. They edged 0.1% higher last week.
Meanwhile, silver for September fell by 27.4 cents, or 1.1%, and ended at $24.581 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $24.42 and $24.89. They declined by 1.4% last week.
In other precious metals prices on Monday:
-
October platinum slipped by $2.70, or 0.3%, to $969.50 an ounce, ranging from $963.10 to $976.50.
- Palladium for September delivery declined by $17.70 to $1,268.80 an ounce, trading between $1,263 and $1,296.50.
Last week, platinum declined by 1.2%, while palladium advanced by 1.6%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Monday, the U.S. Mint reported bullion sales gains for only the second time this month.
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | April | May | June | July | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 24,000 | 0 | 159,500 | 60,500 | 35,000 | 36,000 | 661,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 12,000 | 32,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 35,000 | 80,000 | 60,000 | 0 | 385,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 11,000 | 0 | 61,000 | 47,000 | 17,000 | 13,500 | 290,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 790,000 | 0 | 900,000 | 1,593,000 | 1,482,000 | 1,240,000 | 10,928,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 500 | 1,200 | 3,500 | 0 | 12,700 |
Sir Kaiser-
When I graduated high school back in (cough, cough, wheeze), Palladium was considered the cheap metal. We had 3 choices for class rings; 10K gold, Sterling or Palladium. I was broke, so I cheaped out for the latter. This was several geological ages before anyone thought to make P a benchmarked “precious” metal. Think I paid under $50 for the class ring. Dang, let me go clean my Magic 8-Ball!
Well, you’ve got me beat – my gown-walk was in 1976. I think all of us old school types need to stick together!
Sir Kaiser-
Ain’t that the truth! The older I get, the faster the hands on the clock go round! Maybe I’ll attach fan blades to the clock hand to beat the heat wave!