Metals moved lower Monday with losses that ranged from 0.5% for gold to 2% for platinum. Gold’s loss was its sixth in seven sessions.
Gold for April delivery settled down $6.60 to $1,311.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold eased as the U.S. dollar gained.
"It appears that, facing growing uncertainty, investors are once more seeking refuge in the North American currency," MarketWatch quoted Ricardo Evangelista, senior analyst at ActiveTrades. "Concerns regarding the Chinese economy, weak growth and political tension in the Eurozone, Brexit and lingering global trade tensions are weighing in on market sentiment and the dollar is once more sought after as a refuge asset."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,307.10 to a high of $1,318.70. They lost 0.3% last week.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery declined 11.9 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $15.69 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.67 and $15.83. They fell 0.8% last week.
In other precious metals futures on Monday:
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April platinum gave back $15.90 to $786.60 an ounce, ranging from $786 to $804.40.
- Palladium for March declined $14.40, or 1.1%, to $1,356.80 an ounce, trading between $1,347.40 and $1,382.90. On Friday, the precious metal finished at a record settlement of $1,371.20 an ounce.
Last week, platinum fell 2.9% and palladium jumped 4.4%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM
- Gold declined $8.45, or 0.6%, to $1,306.40 an ounce.
- Silver slipped 7.5 cents, or 0.5%, to $15.705 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
In LBMA results last week, palladium rose 1.9% while the others registered losses totaling 0.3% for gold, 1.4% for silver, and 3.2% for platinum.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
Gains in United States Mint bullion coins included 1,000 ounces in American Buffalos and 550,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | January | February | 2019 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 900 | 27,100 | 1,400 | 28,500 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,500 | 44,500 | 4,500 | 49,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 15,000 | 1,000 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 85,000 | 5,000 | 90,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 3,000 | 23,500 | 4,000 | 27,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 550,000 | 255,000 | 4,017,500 | 835,000 | 4,852,500 |
