Precious metals split in their start to the new trading week on Monday, with gold and silver falling and platinum and palladium rising.
Falling for a third straight session, gold for April delivery declined $11, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,863.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was gold’s weakest since it finished at $1,840.60 ounce on Jan. 5.
"The near-term chart postures for both metals [gold and silver] have deteriorated recently, which are prompting some technical selling pressure. Also, weak long liquidation in the gold and silver futures markets is likely featured today, ahead of a key U.S. inflation report Tuesday," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,860.80 and $1,877.20. They edged 0.1% lower last week.
Also down for a third consecutive session, silver for March delivery gave back 22.3 cents, or 1%, to end at $21.852 an ounce. The settlement was the lowest since silver finished at $21.781 an ounce on Nov 30. Silver futures traded between $21.78 and $22.09. They fell 1.5% last week.
In other precious metals prices on Monday:
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April platinum rose $7.60, or 0.8%, to $959.40 an ounce, ranging from $938.10 to $963.10.
- Palladium for March delivery added $11.60, or 0.8%, to $1,536.50 an ounce, trading between $1,515 and $1,564.
Last week, platinum fell 2.9% and palladium dropped 5.8%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
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) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
January Sales | Last Week | February | 2023 Sales | |
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 118,000 | 9,000 | 9,000 | 127,000 |
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 37,000 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 38,000 |
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 62,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 64,000 |
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 115,000 | 65,000 | 65,000 | 180,000 |
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 59,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 64,000 |
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 3,949,000 | 450,000 | 450,000 | 4,399,000 |
$100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |