Gold futures retreated to start the new trading week on Monday, falling 0.5% and from a more than six-week high.
Gold for December delivery declined $6 to close at $1,153.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Psychologically, [the selloff] is understandable given that a ‘hard landing’ of the Chinese economy would hit [base metals] hard. After all, China accounts for around half of total metal demand," analysts at Commerzbank wrote in a note according to MarketWatch.
"From a fundamental viewpoint, however, there is little justification for the current weakness of metal prices, as the Chinese metal trading statistics for July illustrate. They show that Chinese demand for metals remained robust in July."
The yellow metal traded from a low of $1,151.80 to a high of $1,169.80. Gold prices surged 4.2% last week and closed Friday at their highest level since July 8.
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery tumbled 54 cents, or 3.5%, to settle at $14.76 an ounce. Silver prices ranged from $14.55 to $15.39. They gained 0.6% last week.
In PGM futures on Monday:
-
October platinum dropped $35.60, or 3.5%, to $991.50 an ounce, trading between $976.40 and $1,029.50.
- Palladium for September delivery shed $29.40, or 4.9%, to $575.05 an ounce, ranging from $563.10 to $603.90.
Last week, platinum gained 3.3% and palladium fell 2.1%.
London Precious Metals Prices
Earlier fixed London gold and silver prices were divided. In comparing London bullion prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold advanced $10, or 0.9%, to $1,166.50 an ounce.
- Silver fell 52 cents, or 3.4%, to $14.94 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are displayed on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight after the setting of the prices each day.
Last week, gold rose 3.4% and platinum climbed 3.1% while silver fell 0.6% and palladium declined 2.1%.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in August
United States Mint bullion sales remained unchanged from Friday. The U.S. Mint continues to restrict sales of American Silver Eagles. The agency has allocated 812,500 coins for this week, down from last week’s limit of 1,187,500 coins.
Below is a listing of U.S. Mint bullion products with the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | July Sales | August Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 10,500 | 144,500 | 22,000 | 365,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 3,000 | 49,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 28,000 | 6,000 | 104,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 35,000 | 135,000 | 55,000 | 580,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,500 | 32,000 | 5,500 | 134,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 1,187,500 | 5,529,000 | 3,367,500 | 30,682,500 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | |||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 42,000 | |||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 10,000 | – | 45,000 | |
