Bullion & Business Weekend Report – May 30

Markets were on fire this week and month. In terms of monthly heights, silver streaked ahead in New York to post its biggest monthly gain since April 1987, rising 27 percent. Gold rallied as well, advancing 9.8 percent. In black gold, crude-oil recorded its best monthly gain in 10 years. U.S. stocks made noise too, rising for three straight months.

For the week in London, gold rose 1.6 percent, silver soared 5.9 percent, and platinum jumped 2.3 percent. Precious metal spot figures follow:

London silver closed Friday to $15.52 an ounce, soaring 86 cents this week and an impressive $2.89 for the month.

London gold was fixed at $975.50 an ounce, rising $15.75 for the week while gaining $92.25 in May.

London platinum advanced to $1,175.00 an ounce, rising $26.00 on the week and increasing $82.00 for the month.

"Extreme dollar weakness is adding to the momentum," Pradeep Unni, an analyst at Richcomm Global Services in Dubai, was quoted on Bloomberg. "Ascending oil prices, concerns of inflation and fears of massive U.S. debt have certainly been supporting" both gold and silver.

"I am seeing gold as being bought, recently at least, because people are concerned about the risks of longer-term inflation, and concerned about the debasement of major currencies," UBS strategist John Reade was quoted on Reuters.

To follow are silver, gold and platinum performance charts, precious metal articles, oil news and week-ending world stock summaries.

London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold and Platinum
(May 22-29)

The London Fix is one of the most used bullion quotes around the world. The London AM fix for gold and platinum begins at 10:30am GMT (5:30am in New York), and the PM fix begins at 3pm GMT (10am in New York). The London Fix for silver begins each business day at 12pm GMT (7am in New York).

London Fix figures: percent and dollar changes*

Bullion articles of interest

In related news, interesting or quick-read articles:

• May 29 – Silver Soars to Best Month in 22 Years, Eagle Sales Rise – CoinNews
  Silver continued its spectacular rise Friday, soaring another 45 cents in New York and scoring the best monthly gain in 22 years. Silver futures for July closed….

• May 29 – Silver posts biggest monthly gain in 22 years; gold rallies – MarketWatch
  Silver futures gained 3% Friday, ending May with their biggest monthly gain in 22 years as inflation worries and hopes for an economic recovery boosted the metal. Gold rose to three-month highs as the dollar slipped…

• May 29 – Silver Rises to Best Month Since 1987; Gold at Three-Month High – Bloomberg
  Silver climbed the most in a month in 22 years and gold rose to a three-month high in New York and London as a weaker dollar increased demand for precious metals as an alternative investment…

• May 29 – And Now, Previews of Coming Attractions – Jon Nadler, Kitco
  As the greenback slipped by more than one full point on the trade-weighted index on this last trading day in May, the “sell in May” adage was heavily contradicted by copper, oil, gold, silver, and commodities overall. We have now tallied a near…

• May 28 – Rail Splitter Cents Jump, Braille Silver Dollars Surge – CoinNews
  Lincoln Rail Splitter cents are still in demand, Braille Silver Dollar sales surge, Puerto Rico quarters are expired and UHR $20 gold coins continue mostly at their regular pace. Repeating what most coin collectors already know, the Lincoln Rail Splitter cent went on sale Thursday, May 14. By Sunday, 200,055 of the two-roll sets were sold, equating to…

• May 28 – First Spouse Gold Coin Sales Slide – First Spouse Coins
  First Spouse Gold Coin sales were mostly lower over the last several days, according to the latest United States Mint sales data. While last week’s report showed sales increased for six of eight First Lady coins, a reversal occurred in recent days with demand declining for seven of eight coins…

• May 28 – US Silver Coin Sales – Silver Coins Today
  Louis Braille Silver Dollars were the standout. Demand for these commemorative coins surged. On the other hand, sales declined for all other collector silver coins and sets, the latest US Mint sales stats reveal. No doubt helping the Brailles were two recent promotions — the launch of Braille Dollars into space and the NFB plea to buy them…

• May 27 – Ailing dollar sets gold on track for $1,000 mark – Reuters
  Dollar weakness could prove a boon to gold, pushing prices to new highs for the year above $1,000, as the influence from stock markets and attitudes toward risk wane in favor of its traditional driver…

Reports on world business, oil prices and stocks

Oil surged again on the week and posted the biggest monthly gain in ten years. New York crude-oil for July delivery soared 30 percent in May. The contract ended Friday at $66.31 a barrel, rising $1.23 for the day.

Gas prices surged higher as well. On Saturday, AAA said the national average for unleaded gasoline was $2.488 a gallon, which is 7.9 cents higher than a week ago and 43.7 cents higher than a month back.

U.S. stocks rallied late Friday to mark a positive week and the third straight month of gains. For the week, the Dow gained 2.5 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 4.6 percent, and the Nasdaq rose 4.6 percent. For the month, the Dow rose 3.8 percent, the S&P 500 surged 5.2 percent, and the Nasdaq advanced 3.6 percent.

Friday closing figures for the three major US indexes follow:

• The Dow moved up 96.53 points to close at 8,500.33.

• The S&P 500 gained 12.31 points, closing to 919.14.

• The NASDAQ climbed 22.54 points to finish at 1,774.33.

And in other world markets:

• The German DAX rose 7.94 points to close at 4,940.82.

• The Paris CAC 40 gained 13.95 points to close at 3,277.65.

• And the London FTSE 100 climbed 30.40 points to close at 4,417.94.

Conway Gittens reports on the new "credit cardholder bill of rights" and stocks in a weekly Reuters business summary.

Bullion and finance related collector tools

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