Precious metals futures kicked off the new trading week on Monday with gains ranging from 0.8% for platinum to 7.1% for silver.
Gold for April delivery jumped $83, or 5.6%, to settle at $1,567.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Prices shot from modestly higher levels overnight to sharp gains following an early-morning announcement from the Federal Reserve that the U.S. central bank is very aggressively buying more securities, including mortgage-backed, and also will open up a ‘main street’ lending facility. The Fed used the term ‘unlimited’ on amounts it will spend," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,484.60 to a high of $1,569.30. They lost 2.1% last week.
Silver for March delivery rallied 87.6 cents to settle at $13.261 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $12.29 and $13.33. They plunged last week by 14.6%.
In other precious metals futures Monday:
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April platinum rose $5 to $627.50 an ounce, ranging from $594.60 to $651.10.
- Palladium for June delivery added $16.70, or 1.1%, to $1,556.90 an ounce, trading between $1,483.30 and $1,615.10.
Last week, platinum lost 16.3% while palladium rose 2.1%.
London Precious Metals Prices
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold gained $31, or 2.1%, to $1,525.40 an ounce.
- Silver declined 12 cents, or 1%, to $12.51 an ounce.
In LBMA results last week, metal prices fell by 4.4% for gold, 19.9% for silver, 21.5% for platinum, and 6.3% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
Demand for United States Mint bullion products remains strong. The Mint’s bullion sales on Monday advanced by a combined 38,000 ounces in gold coins and 1.65 million ounces in silver 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 | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 29,000 | 68,500 | 38,000 | 3,500 | 102,500 | 144,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 5,000 | 3,000 | 23,000 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 33,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 14,000 | 6,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 20,000 | 55,000 | 60,000 | 20,000 | 90,000 | 170,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 40,500 | 21,000 | 1,000 | 46,500 | 68,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 1,650,000 | 862,500 | 3,846,000 | 650,000 | 4,832,500 | 9,328,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 14,500 | 9,300 | 6,200 | 30,000 |
