Precious metals futures moved strong out of the gate to start the new trading week Monday. Gold ended higher for the first time in three sessions, climbing from a more than 9-1/2-month low.
Gold for December delivery climbed $12.40, or 1.1%, to settle at $1,190.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gains were attributed to a weaker dollar.
"There’s some rotation into gold as the dollar is down," Bloomberg News quoted Jason Schenker, president of Prestige Economics LLC in Austin, Texas. "What’s going to be really important for gold prices is the U.S. jobs numbers on Friday."
On Friday, the U.S. Labor Department will release its much-anticipated jobs report for November.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,182.40 to a high of $1,197.20. They fell 2.5% last week, their third straight weekly decline, and closed at their lowest point since Feb. 5.
Ending higher for a second session in a row, silver for December delivery tacked on 11.3 cents, or 0.7%, to $16.583 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.43 and $16.85. They slipped 0.9% last week.
In other precious metals prices:
-
January platinum rose $15, or 1.7%, to $923.30 an ounce, ranging from $907.50 to $925.10.
- Palladium for March delivery advanced $15.10, or 2%, to $758 an ounce, trading between $742.55 and $762.
The two metals split last week with platinum falling 1.5% and palladium gaining 1.8%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London bullion prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold dipped 70 cents to $1,187 an ounce.
- Silver added 22.4 cents, or 1.4%, to $16.68 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, London palladium prices rose 1.5% while the other metal prices registered declines of 1.9% for gold, 0.3% for silver and 1.8% for platinum.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
United States Mint bullion sales advanced on Monday by 6,500 ounces in American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins and by 125,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion coins with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Oct Sales | Nov Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coins* | – | 20,000 | |||
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 5,000 | 25,500 | 100,500 | 105,000 | 770,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 6,000 | 70,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 4,000 | 16,000 | 16,000 | 148,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 5,000 | 5,000 | 75,000 | 90,000 | 870,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 3,000 | 28,500 | 24,000 | 201,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 125,000 | 690,000 | 3,825,000 | 3,011,000 | 37,411,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 105,000 | |||
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 75,000 | |||
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 1,200 | 200 | 1,500 | 38,000 |
| 2016 Theodore Roosevelt 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 3,100 | 8,600 | 41,200 |
| 2016 Fort Moultrie 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 6,000 | – | 30,800 | 30,800 |
