Gold retreated to a five-week low Monday. It was hit, opined analysts, by technical selling after prices dropped below a key 200-day moving average.
Gold prices for April delivery fell $17.80, or 1.1%, to close at $1,649.10 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The settlement was the lowest since January 7. Gold ranged from an intraday low of $1,644.10 to a high of $1,670.30. The Lunar New Year holiday in Asia was also cited as pressuring gold.
"There is less liquidity in the market this week, with fewer traders due to the Asian holidays and also absence in some parts of Europe like Germany, where there are Carnival celebrations this week," Reuters quoted Adrien Biondi, head of precious metals trading at Commerzbank.
Gold prices dipped 0.2% last week.
In other New York bullion futures on Monday:
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Silver for March delivery declined 53.1 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $30.91 an ounce. The white metal traded between $30.820 and $31.535.
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April Platinum fell $18.60, or 1.1%, to $1,696.10 an ounce, ranging from $1,685.50 to $1,720.00.
- Palladium for March delivery added $7.10, or 0.9%, to $758.600 an ounce, trading between $744.00 and $761.85.
Last week, silver fell 1.6% and palladium lost 0.7% while platinum jumped 1.6%.
Bullion Prices in London
Metals in London were mixed Monday as palladium climbed while the other precious metals fell. In contrasting the Friday PM to Monday PM Fix prices:
- Gold prices lost $16.25, or 1.0%, to $1,652.00 an ounce,
- Silver declined 36.0 cents, or 1.1%, to $31.16 an ounce,
- Platinum ended down $14.00, or 0.8, to $1,700.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium edged up $3.00, or 0.4%, to $749.00 an ounce
Gaining London precious metals last week included silver at 0.3%, platinum at 1.6% and palladium at 0.1%. Gold prices slipped less than 0.1%.
US Bullion Coin Sales
United States Mint sales advanced for silver bullion coins. U.S. Mint dealers ordered 329,500 Silver Eagles and a total of 1,700 ATB five ounce silver coins.
The following two tables offer all U.S. Mint bullion sales for the day, the week-to-date and year-to-date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | Feb Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 31,000 | 0 | 31,000 | 155,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 18,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 28,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 | 130,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 73,500 |
| American Eagle Silver Coins | 329,500 | 979,500 | 329,500 | 1,309,000 | 8,807,000 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | Feb Sales | All-Time Sales | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Bullion Silver Coins | 100 | 400 | 100 | 500 | 22,400 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Bullion Silver Coins | -400 | 1,000 | -400 | 600 | 20,600 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Bullion Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25,400 |
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Bullion Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Bullion Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Bullion Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104,900 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Bullion Silver Coins | 2,000 | 200 | 2,000 | 2,200 | 45,700 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Bullion Silver Coins | 0 | -2,060 | 0 | -2,060 | 33,600 |
| TOTAL | 1,700 | -460 | 1,700 | 1,240 | 292,600 |
The Chaco Culture silver coin total moved down 400 on Monday. The Chickasaw total adjusted down -2,260 last Tuesday. The week earlier its sales had trimmed by 40. Such negative adjustments are very atypical in U.S. Mint reported bullion coin sales.
All bullion figures above are in the number of coins sold. Calculate total ounces by using the bullion coin’s weight.
