Precious metals started the new trading week on Monday with very narrow changes. Gold gained the most, up 0.1%, to close at a fresh nine-week high.
Gold for August delivery settled up $1.80 to $1,318.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The closing price was the highest since April 14.
"Gold prices ended the U.S. day session slightly higher Monday. Some profit taking and technical chart consolidation were featured to start the trading week, after prices last Friday hit a nine-week high," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "The gold and silver bulls still have some upside technical momentum on their side."
Gold on the day traded from a low of $1,310.40 to a high of $1,319.20. Gold prices last week jumped 3.3%.
Silver for July delivery slipped 3 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $20.92 an ounce. The white metal ranged from $20.74 to $20.95. On Friday, silver prices advanced for the fourteenth time in fifteen sessions and ended 6.6% higher on the week.
PGMs started the week mixed. In the daily breakdowns:
-
July platinum fell 70 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $1,456.60 an ounce, trading between $1,441.20 and $1,459.40.
- Palladium for September delivery rose 45 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $822.65 an ounce, ranging from $810.50 to $823.50.
PGM advances last week tallied to 1.6% for platinum and 1.2% for palladium.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were dived with gold and silver higher and PGMs lower. In contrasting London bullion fix prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold edged up $1, or less than 0.1%, to $1,313.50 an ounce,
- Silver gained 13 cents, or 0.6%, to $20.75 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $3, or 0.2%, to $1,453 an ounce, and
- Palladium dropped $12, or 1.4%, to $817 an ounce
Last week, gains reached 3.1% for gold, 5.3% for silver, 1.3% for platinum and 1.6% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in June
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged as of 2:43 p.m. ET. The U.S. Mint on Monday did tell its authorized dealers that it has temporarily sold out of Shenandoah National Park Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins and that it will be "striking additional coins" to fulfill demand. Shenandoah bullion coins launched on May 5 and have current sales of 19,600.
Coin News Update: The U.S. Mint later on Monday updated its bullion figures with sales of 3,500 American Gold Eagles and 3,400 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins to include 400 more Shenandoah coins.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold last week, last month, the month-to-date, last month, and the year-to-date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Sales Last Week Sales | May Sales | June Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 700 | 12,900 |
| $50 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 3,500 | 11,500 | 29,000 | 32,500 | 188,000 |
| $25 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 70,000 |
| $5 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 35,000 | 20,000 | 345,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 6,500 | 12,500 | 12,000 | 107,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 580,000 | 3,988,500 | 1,925,000 | 23,361,500 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 29,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 400 | 0 | 19,500 | 900 | 20,000 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 2,800 | N/A | 18,300 | 18,300 |
