London precious metals marked gains for a fourth straight week, although gold and silver increases were much less pronounced compared to the previous two weeks. New York crude futures lost 43 cents on Friday but surged 4 percent on the week. U.S. stocks reached new one-year highs. European stocks climbed as well.
In weekly London bullion figures, gold rose 0.4 percent, silver gained 1.3 percent and platinum advanced 3.5 percent. Precious metals figures on Friday follow:
London silver closed to $17.11 an ounce, rising 22 cents from last Friday’s close and increasing its ’09 high. New York silver futures for December delivery ended at $17.07.
London gold was fixed at $1,012.00 an ounce, for a $3.75 gain on the week. New York gold for December delivery finished at $1,010.30, down from an 18-month high reached on Thursday.
London platinum climbed to $1,337.00 an ounce, a $45.00 increase for the week. New York platinum for October delivery closed at $1,338.20.
"Many traders are likely looking for gold to reach new record highs prior to ‘selling on the news’ and taking profits,” GoldCore analysts wrote.
"The dollar looks like it may start to rally higher, and that’s going to take some of the buying out of gold," Gijsbert Groenewegen, a partner at Gold Arrow Capital Management in New York, was quoted on Bloomberg. "Gold may have a short-term correction."
"Expected corrections have remained invisible thus far and some traders now peg the matching of last year’s [gold] high for next week’s calendar," Jon Nadler, Sr. analyst at Kitco Metals Inc., wrote earlier Friday.
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, oil news, week-ending world stock summaries, and precious metal article summaries for the week.
London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold and Platinum
(Sept 11 – 18)
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*
(Sept 11 – 18)
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
X
|
|
1.3%
|
$0.22
|
$17.11
|
| Gold |
X
|
|
0.4%
|
$3.75
|
$1,012.00
|
| Platinum |
X
|
|
3.5%
|
$45.00
|
$1,337.00
|
(Sept 4 – 11)
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
X
|
|
5.9%
|
$0.94
|
$16.89
|
| Gold |
X
|
|
1.9%
|
$19.25
|
$1008.25
|
| Platinum |
X
|
|
3.4%
|
$42.00
|
$1,292.00
|
(Aug 28 – Sept 4)
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
X
|
|
9.7%
|
$1.41
|
$15.95
|
| Gold |
X
|
|
3.5%
|
$33.50
|
$989.00
|
| Platinum |
X
|
|
0.5%
|
$6.00
|
$1,250.00
|
(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
|
Weekly world business news; oil, gasoline, and stocks prices
Crude oil declined Friday for the second straight day "as the dollar gained back some ground after sliding to yearly lows earlier this week, while markets grappled with the usual volatility of options expiration," wrote Nick Godt of MarketWatch.
"This market looks very over-valued based on supply and demand," Peter Beutel, president of trading adviser Cameron Hanover Inc. in New Canaan, Connecticut, was quoted on Bloomberg. "It’s become more of a playground for investment banks in recent years. The greater their involvement the more it is influenced by equities and the dollar."
On Friday, New York crude-oil for October delivery fell 43 cents, or 0.6 percent, to close at $72.04 a barrel. For the week, however, oil surged $2.75, or 4.0 percent, from last Friday’s close of $69.29.
Prices at the pump remained unchanged Saturday from Friday and were again down compared to last week. The national average for unleaded gasoline was $2.55 a gallon, according to a AAA fuel report. The price is 2.6 cents lower than last week, 7.4 cents less than a month back, and down $1.26 from a year ago.
It was another up week in U.S. stocks with new one-year and 2009 highs set. The Dow gained 2.2 percent, the S&P advanced 2.5 percent, and the Nasdaq was up 2.5 percent.
"It’s sort of cautious optimism. What that’s doing is leading to analyst upgrades, and we’re seeing analysts raising earnings estimates for both this year and for calendar 2010 fairly consistently," Fred Dickson, market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon, was quoted on Reuters.
Friday figures for the three major US indexes follow:
-
The Dow jumped 36.28 points to finish at 9,820.20.
-
The S&P added 2.81 points, closing to 1,068.30.
- The NASDAQ rose 6.11 points to close at 2,132.86.
And in other world markets:
-
The German DAX lost 27.31 points to close at 5,703.83.
-
The Paris CAC 40 decreased 7.43 points to close at 3,827.84.
- And the London FTSE 100 grew 8.94 points to close at 5,172.89.
The Federal Reserve is expected to unveil a wide-ranging set of new rules, according to a source, aimed at curbing the excessive risk taking which brought the global financial system to its knees. Conway Gittens of Reuters reports on these, world stocks and other news business news in the following.
Bullion articles of interest
In related silver and gold news, interesting or quick-read articles from the week include:
- Gold ends Friday lower but rises on the week – MarketWatch
Gold for December delivery finished a volatile session slightly lower on Friday, ending four straight sessions of gains, due to a stronger …
- Gold Declines as Dollar Rebound From One-Year Low Curbs Demand – Bloomberg
Gold fell, cooling a rally that sent prices above $1,000 an ounce this month, as a rebound in the dollar curbed demand for precious metals as a hedge against inflation …
- Fear Factor Foible – Jon Nadler, Kitco
Lackluster conditions marked the passage of the overnight trading hours in metals as the dollar’s fall slowed considerably and as oil prices started showing signs of nervousness about demand in the commodity …
- US Mint Proof and Uncirculated Silver Coin Demand Retreats – Silver Coins Today
Despite and uptrend in silver prices during the last 2 1/2 weeks, American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin demand appears to be declining in September, according to the latest US Mint stats …
- US Mint Sales: 2009 Proof Sets Shine, Presidential Dollar Sets Pass 600K – CoinNews
The latest round of US Mint coin sales is near a reversal of last week when activity had picked up almost across the board and several milestones had been breached. This week there are just a few bright spots to talk about …
- Sarah Polk Coins Lead in First Spouse Gold Weekly Sales – First Spouse Coins
It’s no surprise the newly offered Sarah Polk coins were again the best sellers of the First Spouse Gold Coin series. The proof and uncirculated options rose by 216 and 463, bringing the totals to 1,137 and 2,147 respectively …
- US Mint Silver Coin Melt Values Soar – CoinNews
While it would be foolish to purchase commemorative and other collector coins and sets for their intrinsic value (“melt value”), it can be quite interesting to calculate the price of silver within said coins to see how their intrinsic values change …
