In the start of the new trading week, precious metals prices saw gold and silver posting slight gains, while platinum and palladium recorded significant increases.
After experiencing two consecutive but minimal losses, gold for December delivery rose by $6.90, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,946.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Short covering by the futures traders is featured in gold, along with some perceived bargain hunting. The silver market is seeing some technical buying amid friendly near-term charts,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note
Gold futures traded between $1,940.10 and $1,954.20. They advanced 1.2% last week, for their first weekly win after four weeks of losses.
Rising for the seventh time in eight sessions, silver for September increased by 1.8 cents, or 0.07%, to end at $24.252 an ounce. Throughout the day, silver prices ranged from $24.08 to $24.40, following a soaring 6.6% gain last week that snapped a five-week losing streak.
In other precious metals prices on Monday:
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October platinum tacked on $24, or 2.5%, ending at $972.20 an ounce, with prices trading within a range of $942.90 and $977.30.
- Palladium for September delivery rose by $27.20, or 2.2%, to close at $1,256.30 an ounce. Palladium futures ranged from $1,217.50 to $1,263.
Last week, platinum jumped by 3.6%, while palladium fell by 2.5%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
On Monday, the U.S. Mint reported bullion sales gains of 79,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 603,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | June | July | August | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 19,500 | 36,500 | 35,000 | 41,000 | 72,000 | 738,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 75,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 134,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 60,000 | 0 | 60,000 | 0 | 120,000 | 505,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 17,000 | 16,500 | 19,500 | 312,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 603,000 | 756,000 | 1,482,000 | 209,100,000 | 2,942,000 | 14,757,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,500 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
