Gold and silver gained Monday as platinum and palladium declined. Gold marked a two-week high while silver scored a three-week high.
Up for a fourth time in five sessions, gold for February delivery added $26, or 1.4%, to settle at $1,866 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The finish was the highest since Nov. 20.
"There is some keener risk aversion in the marketplace to start the trading week, which prompted a ‘buy-the-dip’ move by the precious metals traders, including some safe-haven demand. The near-term technical postures for gold and silver have significantly improved the past few sessions, which also invited some chart-based buying today," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., said in a daily research note.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,824.80 to a high of $1,873. They advanced 2.9% last week, snapping a three-week losing streak.
Silver for March delivery tacked on 54.1 cents, or 2.2%, to settle at $24.794 an ounce. The close was silver’s highest since Nov. 16. Silver futures traded between $23.63 and $24.94. They rallied 7.1% last week, also for their first weekly increase in four weeks.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
-
January platinum lost $23.40, or 2.2%, to $1,049.40 an ounce, ranging from $1,014.10 to $1,078.
- Palladium for March delivery shed $6.50, or 0.3%, to $2,351.30 an ounce, trading between $2,322 and $2,389.50.
Last week platinum surged 11.2% and palladium dropped 3.4%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
In comparing earlier fixed London gold and silver prices from Friday PM to Monday PM:
- Gold gained $16.95, or 0.9%, to $1,859.95 an ounce.
- Silver declined 47.5 cents, or 2%, to $23.75 an ounce.
In LBMA results last week, prices fell 0.5% for palladium while they climbed 3.6% for gold, 4.7% for silver and 11.7% for platinum.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales increased Monday by a combined 17,000 ounces in American Eagle and Buffalo gold coins and by 475,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
With the day’s gains, American Silver Eagle sales for the year topped 30 million, more than doubling last year’s total of 14,863,500. Annually issued since 1986, the last time sales of the 1-ounce silver coin surpassed 30 million was in 2016 when they reached 37,701,500 coins.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | October | November | December | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 16,000 | 12,500 | 64,500 | 77,000 | 22,500 | 721,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 68,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 106,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 25,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 350,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 7,500 | 19,500 | 23,500 | 5,500 | 237,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 475,000 | 800,000 | 3,397,000 | 4,805,000 | 751,000 | 30,089,500 |
| America Samoa 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Weir Farm 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Salt River Bay 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Marsh Billings 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Tallgrass Prairie 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,500 |
