Gold moved ahead Monday for a second session in a row, while silver drove its losing streak to seven straight and ended at a one-month low.
Gold for June delivery tacked on $12.40, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,713.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was the highest since Wednesday.
"There’s flight to safety because equities look weak as it is unknown how this is going to play out," Reuters quoted Bob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures. "There probably are going to be a lot of issues coming up over the next couple of months with China, and rest of the world due to this virus."
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,700.30 to a high of $1,726. They declined 2% last week.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery declined 14.2 cents, or 1%, to settle at $14.796 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since silver ended at $14.494 an ounce on April 3. Silver futures traded between $14.76 and $15.23. They fell 2.1% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
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July platinum added $4.60, or 0.6%, to $778.50 an ounce, ranging from $760 to $789.
- Palladium for June delivery dropped $52.50, or 2.8%, to $1,835.30 an ounce, trading between $1,810.50 and $1,899.30.
Last week, platinum edged 10 cents higher while palladium dropped 4.9%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold gained $22.85, or 1.4%, to $1,709.10 an ounce.
- Silver rose 8.5 cents, or 0.6%, to $14.93 an ounce.
In LBMA results last week, prices fell 1.7% for gold, 3.1% for silver and 3.5% for palladium while they climbed 0.3% for platinum.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint American Gold Eagle sales rose on Monday by a combined 3,000 ounces. 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 / May | Last Week | January | February | March | April | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 12,500 | 38,000 | 3,500 | 133,000 | 105,000 | 279,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 3,000 | 0 | 23,000 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 0 | 36,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 6,000 | 0 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 20,000 | 0 | 46,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 60,000 | 20,000 | 95,000 | 0 | 175,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 12,500 | 21,000 | 1,000 | 65,500 | 28,500 | 116,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 400,000 | 3,846,000 | 650,000 | 5,482,500 | 750,000 | 10,728,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 14,500 | 9,300 | 31,200 | 1,500 | 56,500 |
In terms of 5-ounce silver bullion sales for 2020, the U.S. Mint is working on getting them automated and reported. Initial U.S. Mint-provided figures have the first two 2020-dated pieces at 45,000 produced and sold per issue. These amounts are being verified.
