Precious metals plunged in starting the new trading week on Monday. Their losses ranged from 1.2% for gold to 13.6% for palladium.
Gold for April delivery gave back $24.20 to settle at $1,960.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was gold’s weakest since March 3.
“Gold and silver prices are solidly lower in midday U.S. trading Monday, as trader/investor risk appetite is just a bit better to start the trading week. Also, crude oil prices have dropped sharply from last week’s 14-year highs, including Nymex crude at one point today dipping below $100.00 a barrel. That’s putting downside pressure on most of the raw commodity sector,” Jim Wyckoff, a senior analyst at Kitco Inc, said in a daily research note.
Gold futures traded between $1,952 and $1,994.80. They rose 0.9% last week. Last Tuesday, gold at $2,043.30 an ounce scored its highest settlement since Aug. 6, 2020.
Silver for May delivery dropped 86.2 cents, or 3.3% to settle at $25.298 an ounce. Silver futures ranged from a low of $25.16 to a high of $26.29. They gained 1.4% last week.
In other precious metals futures prices on Monday:
- April platinum fell $36.30, or 3.3%, to $1,052.30 an ounce, trading between $1,037.90 and $1,100.
- Palladium for June delivery plummeted $379.20 to $2,417.60 an ounce, ranging from $2,310 and $2,788.
Last week, platinum lost 2.5% and palladium tumbled 6.2%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | Last Week | January | February | March | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 60,500 | 123,500 | 86,000 | 69,000 | 278,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 45,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 12,000 | 64,000 | 4,000 | 12,000 | 80,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 45,000 | 195,000 | 25,000 | 45,000 | 265,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 22,000 | 61,500 | 28,500 | 27,000 | 117,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 600,000 | 5,001,000 | 1,500,000 | 600,000 | 7,101,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 6,500 | N/A | 25,800 | 11,200 | 37,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |