Gold prices advanced for a second straight session Monday, but silver slipped after surging the most among precious metals last week.
Gold for April delivery edged up $5.80, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,676.40 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Trading occurred between intraday prices of $1,661.80 and $1,678.60. Gold prices last week gained 0.9%.
"Investors remain fairly optimistic in the U.S. recovery, which makes gold less attractive, even though recent data is rather a mixed bag," Reuters quoted said Chen Min, an analyst at Jinrui Futures in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen.
"Unless we see surprisingly good news for gold, it will be trapped in a narrow range of roughly $1,660 and $1,680 an ounce."
Silver was the lone precious metal down Monday. Silver for March delivery fell 24.2 cents, or 0.8%, to $31.716 an ounce, ranging from $31.385 to $31.925. The precious metal shot up 2.4% last week.
PGM’s marked modest gains on the day:
-
April Platinum rose $10.40, or 0.6%, to $1,698.10 an ounce, trading between $1,684.70 and $1,709.00.
- Palladium for March delivery gained $1.40, or 0.2%, to $757.80 an ounce, ranging between $747.90 and $761.90.
Platinum was the single precious metal to fall last week, down 0.4%. Palladium advanced 2.1% last week.
London Bullion Prices
Precious metals in London were mixed. In contrasting the Friday PM to Monday PM Fix prices:
- Gold dipped $3.00, or 0.2%, to $1,666.00 an ounce,
- Silver edged up 8 cents, or 0.3%, to $31.51 an ounce,
- Platinum climbed $9.00, or 0.5, to $1,696.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium advanced 4.00, or 0.5%, to $749.00 an ounce
Last week, silver declined 0.4%, palladium surged 2.8% and gold and platinum each added 0.5%.
US Bullion Coins
Though into two business days in February, U.S. Mint bullion coins have yet to log sales after soaring gains in January. The latest United States Mint bullion coin sales follow.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 17,500 | 0 | 124,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 17,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 110,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,500 | 0 | 72,500 |
| American Eagle Silver Coin* | 0 | 1,491,000 | 0 | 7,498,000 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | Week-To-Date | All-Time Sales | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21,900 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Acadia National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25,400 |
| 2012 Hawai’i Volcanoes 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2012 Denali National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 9,300 | 0 | 104,900 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,300 | 0 | 43,500 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 4,260 | 0 | 35,660 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 15,860 | 0 | 291,360 |
Coin sales above are in the number of coins sold. Calculate total ounces by using the bullion coin’s weight.
