Precious metals were mixed in starting the new trading week Monday. Gold advanced slightly while silver, platinum and palladium declined.
Gold futures for December delivery added 20 cents to $1,386.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The yellow metal traded between $1,381.90 and $1,395.00.
"A lack of fresh, bullish fundamental news limited buying interest. However, heightened geopolitical tensions limited the downside price pressure in gold," said Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, in a daily note.
Gold prices on Friday rose $13.50, or 1%, to pare losses in the first week of September to 0.7%.
Silver futures for December delivery declined 17.4 cents, or 0.7%, to $23.72 an ounce, ranging from $23.44 to $24.25. Silver on Friday surged 64 cents, or 2.7%, and drove ahead 1.6% for the week.
In PGM’s on Monday:
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October platinum settled down $12.70, or 0.9%, to $1,483 an ounce, trading between $1,480.90 and $1,499.40. Platinum gained $13.60, or 0.9%, on Friday but dropped 2.1% in the first week of September.
- Falling for the seventh time in eight sessions, palladium for December delivery lost $13.85, or 2%, to $683 an ounce. The precious metal ranged from $682.25 to $701. Palladium on Friday added $9.65, or 1.4%, but it sank 3.7% last week.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metal fixings split as well. In contrasting the Friday PM to Monday PM London fix prices:
- Gold edged up $3, or 0.2%, to $1,390 an ounce,
- Silver gained 59 cents, or 2.6%, to $23.64 an ounce,
- Platinum fell $8, or 0.5%, to $1,490 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $5, or 0.7%, to $694 an ounce
London bullion fixings logged losses last week of 0.6% for gold, 2.5% for silver, 1.1% for platinum and 3.9% for palladium.
U.S. Mint Bullion Sales in September
Interest in gold bullion coins from the U.S. Mint picked up Monday with one-day sales of 6,000 ounces tripling last week’s total of 2,000 ounces.
Silver bullion coin sales advanced 473,000 ounces on the day. Within the grouping, American Silver Eagles added 468,000 to hit 34,218,000 for the year. The Silver Eagle’s annual sales record of 39,868,500 happened in 2011. Back then, it took until October 5, 2011 for sales to reach where they are now. Sales through all of last year were lower at 33,742,500.
The latest daily, September and year-to-date U.S. Mint bullion sales follow:
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday / Week-To-Date Sales | Last Week | September Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 1,500 | 1,000 | 2,500 | 599,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 49,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 102,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 5,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 460,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 3,500 | 500 | 4,000 | 194,000 |
| White Mountain 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 500 | 0 | 500 | 31,700 |
| Perry’s Victory 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23,600 |
| Great Basin 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 500 | 0 | 500 | 22,500 |
| Fort McHenry 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 1,700 | 500 | 2,200 | 12,500 |
| American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins | 468,000 | 675,000 | 1,143,000 | 34,218,000 |
