Precious Metals Decline on Monday, Feb. 5

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Large silver bullion bar, smaller gold bar and nugget
Most precious metals ended slightly lower Monday, Feb. 5

Precious metals futures traded lower in their start to the new week on Monday. Losses ranged for less than 0.1% for gold to 1.2% for palladium.

Gold for April delivery dipped 80 cents to settle at $1,336.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Jan. 22.

"A bit of safe-haven demand was featured as world equity markets are selling off, led by strong down-moves in the U.S. stock indexes," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "However, a rally in the U.S. dollar index to start the trading week worked to mitigate buying interest in the precious metals markets."

Gold futures traded from a low of $1,331.60 to a high of $1,341.30. They slipped 1.1% last week.

Silver for March delivery lost 3.8 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $16.671 an ounce. The close was the lowest since Dec. 26. Silver futures ranged from $16.51 to $16.87. They sank 4.2% last week.

In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:

  • April platinum declined $3.90, or 0.4%, to $995.50 an ounce, trading between $990.50 and $1,000.60.

  • Palladium for March delivery fell $12, or 1.2%, to $1,032.95 an ounce, ranging from $1,028.15 to $1,045.85.

Both metals fell last week with losses of 1.9% for platinum and 3.7% for palladium.

London Precious Metals Prices

In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:

  • Gold added $2.45, or 0.2%, to $1,333.60 an ounce.
  • Silver declined 26 cents, or 1.5%, to $16.875 an ounce.

LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.

Last week, LBMA precious metals prices registered losses of 1.6% for gold, 1.5% for silver, 2% for platinum and 3.7% for palladium.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018

United States Mint bullion sales advanced by 1,000 ounces in gold coins and by 225,000 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.

US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins)
Monday Last Week December January February 2018 Sales
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin 500 2,000 38,000 36,000 1,500 37,500
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 3,000 16,000 0 16,000
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 4,000 26,000 0 26,000
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin 0 5,000 25,000 80,000 0 80,000
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin 500 1,500 14,000 24,000 1,500 25,500
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin 225,000 140,000 742,000 3,235,000 225,000 3,460,000

This article was edited to include updated U.S. Mint bullion figures.

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