Precious metals gleamed brighter this week, with silver sparkling the most while gold and platinum edged out modest gains. New York crude futures rose in volatile trading Friday, but ended down on the week. In other markets, U.S. stocks closed mixed on the last day of trading but eked out small gains during this final full week of August. European stocks rose for a sixth week in seven.
In weekly London bullion figures, gold rose 0.3 percent, silver jumped 3.8 percent and platinum gained 0.4 percent. Precious metals figures on Friday follow:
London silver closed to $14.54 an ounce, rising 53 cents from last Friday’s close. New York silver futures for September delivery ended at $14.784.
London Gold was fixed at $955.50 an ounce, a $3.00 gain on the week. New York fold for December delivery finished at $958.80.
London platinum climbed to $1,244.00 an ounce, a $5.00 increase for the week. New York platinum for October delivery closed at $1,245.90.
“Our coin and investment-bar sales in Europe this week for the first time in several months were reasonable, or even quite good,” John Reade, the head of metals strategy at UBS AG in London, was quoted on Bloomberg.
"Gold did indeed try for the mid $960s during the course of Friday’s session," wrote Jon Nadler, Sr. analyst at Kitco Metals Inc. "Highs were recorded at $963.40 before the NY lunch hour, but that was prior to crude oil turning lower on the day amid sliding stock prices.
The dollar also reversed course, regaining the 78 level –plus 0.20- on the trade-weighted index. In any case, gold managed to erase the losses it was on course to sustain for the week."
Gold, considered a hedge during times of high inflation and economic uncertainty, tends to follow oil and move opposite to the U.S. dollar. A rising greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities, like bullion, more expensive for holders of other world currencies.
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
(Aug 21 – 28)
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*
(Aug 21 – 28)
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
X
|
|
3.8%
|
$0.53
|
$14.54
|
| Gold |
X
|
|
0.3%
|
$3.00
|
$955.50
|
| Platinum |
X
|
|
0.4%
|
$5.00
|
$1,244.00
|
(Aug 14 – 21)
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
|
X
|
-6.5%
|
-$0.97
|
$14.01
|
| Gold |
|
X
|
-0.1%
|
-$1.10
|
$952.50
|
| Platinum |
|
X
|
-2.2%
|
-$28.00
|
$1,239.00
|
(Aug 7 – 14)
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
X
|
|
2.3%
|
$0.33
|
$14.98
|
| Gold |
|
X
|
-0.3%
|
-$2.40
|
$953.60
|
| Platinum |
X
|
|
0.6%
|
$7.00
|
$1267.00
|
(July 31 – Aug 7)
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
X
|
|
7.5%
|
$1.02
|
$14.65
|
| Gold |
X
|
|
1.8%
|
$17.00
|
$956.00
|
| Platinum |
X
|
|
6.0%
|
$71.00
|
$1260.00
|
(July 24-31)
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
|
X
|
-1.1%
|
-$0.15
|
$13.63
|
| Gold |
|
X
|
-1.3%
|
-$12.50
|
$939.00
|
| Platinum |
X
|
|
0.3%
|
$3.00
|
$1189.00
|
Weekly world business news; oil, gasoline, and stocks prices
Oil rose Friday "ending slightly higher as government data showing that U.S. consumer spending increased for the third month in a row raised economic hopes, while natural gas tumbled further on plentiful inventories," Moming Zhou and Polya Lesova, MarketWatch.
"Right now there is a positive correlation between stocks and oil because people are looking at the same bullish data," Clarence Chu, a trader at options dealers Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore, was quoted on Bloomberg. "If people think the economy is doing well they buy stocks and they buy crude. Still, this doesn’t change the fact that the fundamental picture is pretty weak."
On Friday, New York crude-oil for October delivery climbed 25 cents, or 0.3 percent, to close at $72.74 a barrel. For the week, oil fell 1.6 percent.
Prices at the pump declined this week. The national average for unleaded gasoline on Saturday fell four-tenths of a cent to $2.626 a gallon, according to a AAA fuel report. The price is 1.7 cents lower than last week, 9.3 cents more than a month back, and $1.06 lower than a year ago.
U.S. stocks ended mixed Friday "as investors welcomed corporate news from Intel and Dell that signaled a bottom in the PC market, but mostly played it cautious after pushing the markets to 2009 highs in the previous session," wrote Alexandra Twin at CNNMoney.
"I think the absence of buyers is triggering traders to sell into the weekend," Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates in Toledo, Ohio, was quoted on Reuters. "Next week is basically the last week of the summer, and with more buyers away, there would be fewer catalysts of bull momentum."
For the week, the Dow rose 0.4 percent, the S&P 500 climbed 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.4 percent.
Friday figures for the three major US indexes follow:
-
The Dow declined 36.43 points to close at 9,544.20.
-
The S&P fell 2.05 points, closing to 1,028.93.
- The NASDAQ gained 1.04 points to finish at 2,028.77.
And in other world markets:
-
The German DAX rose 47.02 points to close at 5,517.35.
-
The Paris CAC 40 gained 44.61 points to close at 3,693.14.
- And the London FTSE 100 advanced 39.55 points to close at 4,908.90.
Consumer spending rises, but morale falls to lowest in four months. Carmen Roberts from Reuters reports on these, world stocks and other news from the following Reuters video. SOUNDBITE: CARY LEAHY, SENIOR ECONOMIST, DECISION ECONOMICS
Bullion articles of interest
In related silver and gold news, interesting or quick-read articles from the week include:
- Gold rises 1.2% to erase week’s losses; silver, copper rally – MarketWatch
Gold futures rose 1.2% Friday, erasing their weekly losses after the release of data on U.S. consumer confidence and spending, while copper and silver rallied. Consumers’ …
- Gold Rises on Investment Demand; Silver Jumps Most Since May – Bloomberg
Gold futures rose to a three-week high on signs of increasing investor demand. Silver had the biggest gain in almost four months. Gold assets in exchange-traded funds monitored by UBS AG are "98 percent of the all-time highs," the bank said today in a report. Holdings in …
- W(h)ither Hindustan? – Jon Nadler, Kitco
At first glance, Friday appeared to be once again shaping up as an oil-driven kind of day in the precious metals pits. Gains of from half to three-quarters of a dollar in black gold were initially seen sustaining incremental …
- US Mint Sales: 2009 Proof Sets Top 975K, UHRs Near 83K – CoinNews
US Mint coin sales trended slightly lower last week with the exception of silver coin demand which was on the rise. Frankly, no numbers unexpectedly shouted and said “look at me.” Here are several highlights, plus a few topics …
- First Spouse Coin Sales Retreat, Jackson’s Spike – First Spouse Coins
First Spouse Gold Coin sales mostly declined with only three of the nine U.S. Mint gold commemoratives showing improvements compared to the prior report. As mentioned last week, when the proof Andrew Jackson Liberty’s …
- US Mint Weekly Silver Coin Demand Climbs – Silver Coins Today
Collector silver coin sales increased for all but one US Mint offering during the seven days ended Aug 23, new sales figures from the Mint reveal. The sole under performer was the 2008-dated Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set. 644 new sets were purchased compared to …
