Precious metals tumbled Monday, registering losses ranging from 2% for gold to 10.7% for palladium. Drops in gold, silver and platinum were their fifth in a row. Gold and silver also ended the day at more than two-month lows.
Gold for June delivery fell $38.30 to settle at $1,896 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Feb 25.
"The entire raw commodity sector was hit hard today by concerns regarding demand as Covid cases in China, the world’s second-largest economy, are spreading rapidly. Serious near-term technical damage was inflicted in gold and silver today, which has emboldened the chart-based bears," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,891.80 and $1,935.50. They lost 2.1% last week.
Silver for May delivery declined 58.9 cents, or 2.4%, to end at $23.67 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since Feb. 16. Silver futures ranged from $23.42 to $24.24. They dropped 5.6% last week.
In other precious metals prices on Monday:
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July platinum gave back $22.40, or 2.4%, to $905 an ounce, trading between $901.40 and $927.90.
- Palladium for June delivery plummeted $254.20 to $2,122.10 an ounce, ranging from $2,058.50 to $2,363.50.
Last week, platinum sank 6.7% while palladium edged 0.8% higher.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged on Monday. 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 | February | March | April | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 39,500 | 86,000 | 140,500 | 61,000 | 411,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 3,000 | 53,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 20,000 | 14,000 | 102,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 25,000 | 75,000 | 25,000 | 320,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 28,500 | 64,500 | 17,000 | 171,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 408,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,080,500 | 833,000 | 8,414,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 25,800 | 14,200 | 0 | 40,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
