Precious metals futures kicked off the new trading week, month, and quarter with deep declines. Gold and silver logged their fifth set of losses in six sessions with the former ending at yet another low for the year.
Gold for August delivery dropped $12.80, or 1%, to settle at $1,241.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the weakest since Dec. 12 when prices also ended at $1,241.70 an ounce.
"While world trade tensions remain high, which is causing some anxiety in the market place, the gold and silver markets would rather act like raw commodities than safe-haven assets," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a report. "Much of the raw commodity sector has been pressured in recent weeks by worries the trade disputes among the major economies of the world will curtail demand for many commodities."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,240.60 to a high of $1,255.60. They ended Friday with weekly, June and quarterly losses of 1.3%, 3.8%, and 5.5%, while also falling 4.2% in the first half of 2018.
Meanwhile, silver for September delivery sank 36.3 cents, or 2.2%, to settle at $15.835 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.80 and $16.18. They ended Friday with declines of 1.6% for the week and month, 0.5% for the second quarter, and 5.5% for the year to date.
In other precious metals futures on Monday;
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October platinum tumbled $44.30, or 5.2%, to $813.40 an ounce, ranging from $811.10 to $857.50.
- Palladium for September delivery lost $16.50, or 1.7%, to $934.40 an ounce, trading between $931.30 and $950.90.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold declined $2.65 or 0.2%, to 1,247.80 an ounce.
- Silver shed 5 cents, or 0.3%, to $15.98 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged. 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 / Week / July | Last Week | May | June | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,500 | 18,500 | 16,500 | 82,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 17,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 4,000 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | 125,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 16,500 | 6,000 | 53,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 95,000 | 380,000 | 435,000 | 6,822,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Apostle Islands 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 |
| Voyageurs 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,100 | 0 | 30,000 | 30,000 |
