Gold futures rose modestly in their start to the new trading week on Monday, marking a fresh, almost two-year high, while silver declined for the first time in five sessions.
Gold for August delivery edged up $2.30, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,324.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since July 11, 2014 when prices closed at $1,337.40 an ounce.
"I’m bullish gold because now with Britain leaving [the European Union] there could be danger of the whole euro zone having more political issues," Bloomberg News quoted Miguel Perez-Santalla, a sales and marketing manager at Heraeus Metals New York LLC. "People are going to want to stay hedged with gold; they didn’t think the Brexit was possible, and then it happened."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,322.20 to a high of $1,340. They rose 2.1% last week for their fourth straight weekly increase.
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery dipped 4.5 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $17.744 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $17.66 and $17.94. They advanced 2.2% last week, which also marked their fourth weekly gain in a row. On Friday, silver surged 2.5% and settled at its best price since April 29.
In other precious metals futures on Monday:
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July platinum fell $7.90, or 0.8%, to $979.20 an ounce, ranging from $976.90 to $997.
- Palladium for September delivery added $10.95, or 2%, to $557.40 an ounce, trading between $545.85 and $558.35.
Last week the two metals logged gains of 2.2% and 3.2%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold rose $9.05, or 0.7%, to $1,324.55 an ounce.
- Silver declined 34 cents, or 1.9%, to $17.70 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
Last week, London bullion prices advanced by 1.9% for gold, 3.9% for silver, 2% for platinum and 3.2% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2016
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Monday as of 3:14 p.m. Eastern Time. Earlier in the day, the U.S. Mint said its latest weekly allocation of American Silver Eagles is 2,837,500 coins. 2016 Silver Eagles are running at a record pace with sales of 25,312,500 coins, marking a 22.7% increase over those sold through same time in record-breaking year 2015.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold during varying periods of time.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | Apr Sales | May Sale | June Sales | 2016 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 13,500 | 93,500 | 64,500 | 49,500 | 393,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 6,000 | 7,000 | 3,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 6,000 | 14,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 86,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 20,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 | 55,000 | 490,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 12,000 | 110,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 517,000 | 4,072,000 | 4,498,500 | 1,899,500 | 25,312,500 |
| 2016 Shawnee 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 105,000 |
| 2016 Cumberland Gap 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 64,000 | 11,000 | 0 | 75,000 |
| 2016 Harpers Ferry 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 64,000 | 11,000 | 34,200 | 34,200 |
