Precious metals dropped on Monday, taking away a sizable portion of their gains last week. Losses on the day ranged from 1.6% for gold to 3.6% for silver.
Falling for a second session in a row after notching a four-month high, gold for February delivery declined $28.30 to settle at $1,781.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The metals are being hit by heavy profit taking from the shorter-term futures traders and by bearish outside markets. The U.S. dollar index is solidly higher and crude oil prices are lower and lost good early gains. Rising U.S. Treasury yields are also a bearish element for the precious metals markets today,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,778.10 and $1,822.90. They advanced 3.2% last week. On Thursday, gold at $1,815.20 an ounce logged its highest settlement since Aug. 12.
Meanwhile, silver for March delivery fell 83.3 cents to end at $22.417 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $22.35 and $23.69. They soared 8.5% last week, ending Friday at their best price since April 27.
In other precious metals prices on Monday:
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January platinum fell $19.10, or 1.8%, to $1,007.50 an ounce, trading between $1,002.90 and $1,038.20..
- Palladium for March delivery declined $39.80, or 2.1%, to $1,861.30 an ounce, ranging from $1,854.50 to $1,939.50.
Last week, platinum rose 3.9% and palladium gained 4.4%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales last changed on Nov. 21. 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 / December | July | August | September | October | November | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 59,500 | 47,500 | 47,500 | 59,500 | 6,000 | 846,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 75,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 140,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 575,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 39,500 | 22,500 | 44,500 | 39,500 | 4,500 | 410,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 850,000 | 850,000 | 833,000 | 1,258,000 | 1,407,000 | 15,904,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 15,500 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
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