Precious metals were divided Monday with gold and silver closing lower and platinum and palladium finishing higher. Palladium logged a new record settlement.
Gold for April delivery shed $1.40, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,301.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold price is dancing just above the $1,300 threshold, without a clear direction … bullion has been so far unable to surpass $1,310 and remains deadlocked close to $1,300 in this ‘wait-and-see’ scenario," Reuters quoted ActivTrades chief analyst Carlo Alberto De Casa.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,298 to a high of $1,306.70. They rose 0.3% last week.
Silver for May delivery dipped less than a half cent to close at $15.322 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $15.22 and $15.43. They lost 0.2% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
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April platinum moved up $2.20, or 0.3%, to $834 an ounce, ranging from $823.60 to $839.80.
- Palladium for June delivery advanced $21.20, or 1.4%, to $1,539.70 an ounce, trading between $1,500.90 and $1,541.80.
The pair scored gains last week reaching 1.7% for platinum and 4.1% and palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM
- Gold added $2.10, or 0.2%, to $1,305.60 an ounce.
- Silver added 2.5 cents, or 0.2%, to $15.38 an ounce.
LBMA platinum and palladium prices are available on the LBMA’s website with a delay of midnight.
LBMA prices last week posted increases of 0.5% for gold, 1.6% for silver, 1.6% for platinum, and 3% for palladium.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales increased by a combined 1,000 ounces with equal splits between American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins.
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 | Last Week | January | February | March | 2019 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 27,100 | 2,400 | 2,000 | 31,500 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 5,500 | 44,500 | 11,000 | 7,500 | 63,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 15,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 20,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 24,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 90,000 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 105,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 3,500 | 23,500 | 6,000 | 4,500 | 34,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 850,000 | 4,017,500 | 2,157,500 | 850,000 | 7,025,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 80,000 | N/A | 80,000 | 80,000 | |
