Precious metals sank in kicking off the new trading week on Monday. Losses ranged from 2.3% for gold to 6.7% for palladium. The metals registered from multi-week to multi-month settlement lows.
Gold for August delivery dropped $43.70 to settle at $1,831.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was the lowest since May 18 when gold ended at $1,815.90 an ounce.
"Gold and silver prices are solidly lower in midday U.S. trading Monday, pressured by a U.S. dollar index that is solidly higher and trading near a 20-year high, and by sharply rising U.S. Treasury yields that are at multi-year highs. Gold prices did hit a five-week high overnight but those gains could not be held," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,824.70 and $1,882.50. They advanced 1.4% last week, ending Friday at their highest point since May 6.
Silver for July delivery plummeted 67.6 cents, or 3.1%, to end at $21.255 an ounce. The close was the weakest since May 13 when silver finished at $21.001 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $20.91 and $22.04. They edged 0.1% higher last week.
In other precious metals prices on Monday:
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July platinum settled down $38.70, or 4%, to $932.30 an ounce, trading between $926.90 and $975.30. The finish was the lowest since May 25 when platinum ended at $929.30 an ounce.
- Palladium for September delivery dropped $128.60 to $1,778.40 an ounce, ranging from $1,775 to $1,924. The close was the lowest since Dec. 20 when palladium ended at $1,745.90 an ounce.
Last week, platinum dropped 4.5% and palladium fell 4%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published U.S. 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 | April | May | June | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 80,500 | 137,500 | 0 | 568,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 0 | 58,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 14,000 | 8,000 | 0 | 110,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 25,000 | 50,000 | 0 | 370,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 27,500 | 56,000 | 2,500 | 240,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 850,000 | 850,000 | 0 | 9,281,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Good news, oil fell a little today too.