Gold rose Friday, snapping a string of four straight daily losses. Gains followed the release of disappointing U.S. jobs data which was said to improve the prospects of additional Fed stimulus.
"People are investing in gold for two reasons: One, because they are worried about the economy so this is a safe bet, and also should any kind of monetary of fiscal stimulus be announced, gold will be a good hedge," Pratik Sharma, a fund manager at Boca Raton, Florida-based Atyant Capital Management Ltd., said in a telephone interview that was cited on Bloomberg.
But the gain on Friday failed to bring gold into the black for the week, although it dropped the least of the precious metals. Across the group, weekly losses included 1.2% for gold, 3.1% for silver, 2.5% for platinum and 4.3% for palladium.
On Friday, gold prices for June delivery advanced $10.40, or 0.6%, to $1,645.20 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Prices touched an intraday low of $1,630.20 and reached a high of $1,645.70.
Gold Prices Expected Higher Next Week
Bullish sentiment displayed one week ago in gold surveys, while proved incorrect, remains in place for next week based on the latest surveys.
Bloomberg’s weekly survey has 15 of 28 participants expecting higher gold prices next week, with 8 bearish and 59 neutral. Kitco’s survey shows more caution.
"In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 33 participants, 22 responded this week. Of those 22 participants, 10 see prices up, while eight see prices down, and four are neutral," reports Kitco.
"Most participants who see higher prices next week cite the lower-than-expected U.S. unemployment figures released Friday as a reason to think the Federal Reserve may be seek to launch a third round of quantitative easing sooner than later.
Interestingly, those who see lower prices also cite the jobs data, but have a different view, suggesting that gold’s inability to rally on the poor data means the market will likely test the downside. Also, a few who see weaker prices said…"
Gold prices this year have climbed $78.40, or 5.0%.
Silver, Platinum and Palladium Futures
In other major metals prices on Friday:
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Silver prices for July delivery jumped 42.2 cents, or 1.4%, to $30.432 an ounce. The white metal touched an intraday low of $29.78 and reached a high of $30.480.
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Platinum prices for July delivery added $2.90, or 0.2%, to $1,536.00 an ounce, trading between $1,521.10 and $1,541.10.
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Bucking the trend was palladium. Palladium prices for June delivery fell $9.20, or 1.4%, to $652.15 an ounce, trading between $649.50 and $665.90.
Platinum this week became the best performing precious metal so far this year, up 9.3%. Silver, which had held the top spot, moved to the second spot with a gain of 9.0% in 2012. Palladium had declined 0.6% this year.
London Precious Metal
Precious metals in London were mixed Friday with gold higher and other metals lower. When comparing the most recent London PM fixings:
- Gold added $6.00, or 0.4%, to $1,643.75 an ounce,
- Silver shed 46.0 cents, or 1.5%, to $29.90 an ounce,
- Platinum declined $22.00, or 1.4%, to $1,530.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium lost $2.00, or 0.3%, to $633.00 an ounce
Like metals futures in New York, London precious metals declined across the board this week. Weekly losses were 1.2% for gold, 4.0% for silver, 2.7% for platinum and 2.1% for palladium.
U.S. Mint Bullion Coins
In U.S. Mint bullion products this week, sales of Silver Eagles matched their previous weekly increase of 300,000 while Gold Eagles surged 20,000 to already surpass their entire April sales total of 19,000.
The following are the available daily, weekly, May and year-to-date bullion coin sales totals as reported by the U.S. Mint.
| U.S. Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Gains | Prior Weekly | Weekly/May Gains | YTD 2012 | |
| American Gold Eagles (1 oz.) | 0 | 4,000 | 20,000 | 201,000 |
| American Gold Eagles (1/2 oz.) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51,000 |
| American Gold Eagles (1/4 oz.) | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 42,000 |
| American Gold Eagles (1/10 oz.) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 135,000 |
| American Gold Buffalo Coin (1 oz.) | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 55,500 |
| American Silver Eagle Coin | 0 | 440,000 | 300,000 | 11,759,000 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Silver Bullion Coin Sales | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prior Weekly | Weekly Gains | All-Time Total | |
| Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 85,100 |
| Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 38,300 |
| Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 28,900 |
| TOTAL | 0 | 0 | 152,300 |
All coin sales in the above tables are in number of coins, not in the amount of ounces sold. The U.S. Mint last updated five ounce bullion silver coins sold on Monday, April 9.
