Precious metals futures posted fairly modest gains on Monday with gold rising for a second straight session and silver rebounding from an about three-week low.
Gold for December delivery climbed $5.90, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,277.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold and silver prices ended the U.S. day session firmer Monday, supported by bullish ‘outside market’ forces that saw a weaker U.S. dollar and rising crude oil prices," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Short covering (the buying back of previously sold, or short, futures positions) was featured in gold and silver markets today."
Gold futures ranged from a low of 1,269.80 to a high of $1,279.90. They declined 0.7% last week.
Silver for December delivery added 9.5 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $16.847 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $16.69 and $16.87. They gave back 1.9% last week, ending at their lowest price since Oct. 5.
In other precious metals futures prices:
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January platinum gained $8.10, or 0.9%, to $922.70 an ounce, ranging from $916.50 to $922.90.
- Palladium for December delivery settled up $4.40, or 0.5%, to $962.65 an ounce, trading between $962 and $971.80.
Last week, the two metals logged respective losses of 1.3% and 1.2%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold rose $5.55, or 0.4%, to 1,272 an ounce.
- Silver added 1.5 cents, or nearly 0.1%, to $16.735 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, London bullion prices registered declines of 1.2% for gold, 2.1% for silver, 0.2% for platinum and 0.4% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
United States Mint bullion sales advanced by 3,000 ounces in gold coins and by 40,000 ounces in silver coins. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | September | October | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* | 0 | 0 | 15,000 | 0 | 15,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 11,000 | 181,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 32,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 58,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 5,000 | 0 | 25,000 | 30,000 | 3605,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,500 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 7,000 | 83,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 40,000 | 250,000 | 320,000 | 1,040,000 | 16,938,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35,000 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
This article was edited with updated U.S. Mint bullion figures.
