Gold kept within the win column Monday, ending higher for the second straight session and the only two so far in the new year.
Gold for February delivery tacked on $17.80, or 1.5%, to close at $1,204 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices ended the U.S. day session with solid gains Monday, boosted by short covering in the futures market and bargain hunting in the cash market," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Some safe-haven for demand for gold also surfaced Monday as U.S. and European stock markets sold off."
Gold traded from a low of $1,177.80 to a high of $1,207.50. Gold prices retreated 0.8% last week.
In rounding out the precious metals complex:
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Silver for March delivery advanced 45 cents, or 2.8%, to $16.21 an ounce, ranging from $15.63 to $16.26.
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April platinum gained $7, or 0.6%, to $1,210.90 an ounce, trading between $1,197.80 and $1,219.
- Palladium for March delivery declined $1.65, or 0.2%, to $793.20 an ounce, ranging from $792.05 to $805.10.
Last week, silver fell 2.4%, platinum dropped 1.3%, and palladium declined 2.9%.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals advanced. In comparing London bullion Fix prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold rose $28, or 2.4%, to $1,200 an ounce,
- Silver added 17 cents, or 1.1%, to $15.88 an ounce,
- Platinum gained $13, or 1.1%, to $1,206 an ounce, and
- Palladium rose $3, or 0.4%, to $794 an ounce.
Last week, platinum added 0.3% while the others logged declines of 2.2% for palladium and 0.4% for both gold and silver.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales
United States Mint distributors pulled out their cash to buy the just released 2015-dated American Eagle Gold and American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins.
U.S. Mint gold sales opened at a combined 58,500 ounces with splits of 42,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 16,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalo coins. As a comparison, Gold Eagle sales in December reached just 18,000 ounces. Gold Buffalo sales last month rose by only 4,500 ounces.
Next week, on Jan. 12, the Mint will begin selling its 2015-dated American Silver Eagles. Last year’s version sold out on Dec. 24.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Monday, last week, in December, and last year. Coins with an asterisk (*) have sold out for 2014.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday Sales | Last Week | December Sales | 2014 Sales | January / 2015 Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,900 | 0 |
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 24,000 | 0 | 13,000 | 415,500 | 24,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 12,000 | 0 | 0 | 46,000 | 12,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 22,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 118,000 | 22,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 65,000 | 0 | 35,000 | 565,000 | 65,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 16,500 | 0 | 4,500 | 177,500 | 16,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 2.459M | 44.006M | 0 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33,000 | 0 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,100 | 24,400 | 0 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22,000 | 0 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 21,900 | 0 |
| Everglades 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins* | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 34,000 | 0 |
