Gold and silver prices rallied Monday in their start to the new trading year, scoring multi-months highs, while platinum and palladium declined.
Gold for February delivery tacked on $51.50, or 2.7%, to settle at $1,946.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Nov. 6 when gold closed at $1,951.70 an ounce.
"In the short term, expect gold prices to rise because of the economic consequences of the recent aggressive rise of COVID infections, hospitalizations, and deaths as well as the new and apparently highly contagious strain of COVID," MarketWatchq quoted Ed Moy, former director of the U.S. Mint and chief strategist at gold seller Valaurum.
Gold futures ranged from a low of $1,906.10 to a high of $1,948.70. They climbed 0.6% last week, marking a more than 24% increase in 2020.
Silver for March delivery soared 95.2 cents, or 3.6%, to close at $27.364 an ounce. The finish was silver’s strongest since it closed Sept. 16 at $27.476 an ounce. Silver futures traded between $26.73 and $27.76. They advanced 2% last week for an over 47% increase in 2020.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
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April platinum declined $7.70, or 0.7%, to $1,071.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,055 to $1,142.
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Palladium for March delivery fell $62.60, or 2.6%, to $2,391.20 an ounce, trading between $2,370 and $2,485.50.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
UK markets had been closed since Thursday morning. When comparing those AM precious metals prices to the PM prices on Monday:
- Gold gained $52.10, or 2.8%, to $1,943.20 an ounce.
- Silver jumped 78.5 cents, or 3%, to $27.27 an ounce.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
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. 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 | 0 | 2,000 | 64,500 | 77,000 | 48,500 | 747,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 70,000 |
| $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 | 0 | 25,000 | 35,000 | 0 | 350,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 19,500 | 23,500 | 10,500 | 242,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 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 |
