Precious metals diverged at the start of the new trading week on Monday, with gold and silver rising for a second session, while platinum and palladium declined. The winning metals also marked significant new settlement highs – nearly 6.5 months for gold and almost 3 months for silver.
Gold for December delivery increased by $9.40, or 0.5%, to finish at $2,012.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since May 15 when the yellow metal ended at $2,022.70 an ounce.
"The precious metals are seeing buying support from a slumping U.S. dollar index that is trading near last week’s three-month low. The technical postures for both metals also lean bullish, which continues to invite the chart-based traders to the long sides of gold and silver," Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $2,001.40 and $2,018.90. They rose by 0.9% last week.
Meanwhile, silver for December picked up by 34 cents, or 1.4%, to settle at $24.681 an ounce. The settlement was the highest for silver since Aug. 31 when it closed at $24.812 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from $24.32 to $24.94. They increased by 2.1% last week.
In other precious metals prices on Monday:
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January platinum fell by $13.70, or 1.5%, to $923.20 an ounce, ranging from $918.20 to $946.70.
- Palladium for December declined by $14.70, or 1.4%, to $1,060.50 an ounce, trading between $1,053 and $1,088.50.
Last week, platinum jumped by 3.9% and palladium advanced by 1.5%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
U.S. Mint bullion sales last changed on Thursday, Nov. 16, a week ago, and those gains were the second for this month. Advances included 18,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 1.083 million ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 6,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
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 | August | September | October | November | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 78,000 | 27,500 | 97,000 | 22,500 | 891,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 13,000 | 7,000 | 4,000 | 99,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 30,000 | 18,000 | 10,000 | 192,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 150,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 45,000 | 650,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 36,500 | 10,000 | 377,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,124,000 | 2,970,000 | 3,938,000 | 1,439,000 | 23,286,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
