Gold futures on Friday declined for a second session in a row but still scored their first weekly increase in a month.
On Friday, gold for August delivery shed $1.20, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,179.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"It’s a summer Friday-type atmosphere," Reuters quoted Bill O’Neill, co-founder of commodities investment firm LOGIC Advisors in New Jersey, referring to the lackluster session. "It’s a cautious day ahead of the Fed meeting. The nuances of next week’s FOMC statement might be more hawkish than what we’ve seen in the past."
The Federal Open Market Committee meets Tuesday and Wednesday, with a monetary policy statement released at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
Gold prices advanced 1% from a week ago to trim their losses on the year to 0.4%. Looking ahead, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street survey:
"The results of Kitco News’ Wall Street vs Main Street Weekly Gold Survey, show that a strong majority expect to see lower prices next week. In Kitco’s online survey, 421 people voted and of those 297, or 71%, said they were bearish on gold in the short-term; 75 participants, or 18%, were bullish and 49 people, or 12%, were neutral.
The results of the professional survey were also fairly conclusive. Out of 34 market experts contacted, 20 responded; of those, 12 participants, or 47%, see lower prices, five experts, or 25%, see higher prices and three, or 15%, are neutral on the gold market."
Breaking away from a two-session winning streak, silver for July delivery dropped 14 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $15.83 an ounce. Silver prices declined 1% on the week, reducing their year-to-date gain to 1.5%.
In other precious metals futures on Friday and for the week:
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July platinum lost $8.40, or 0.8%, to $1,096.80 an ounce, rising 0.4% from a week ago.
- Palladium for September delivery declined $4.70, or 0.6%, to $738.15 an ounce, falling 1.7% on the week.
Both metals are sharply lower for the year with platinum down by 9.3% and palladium down by 7.5%.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices mixed it up on Friday and for the week. In comparing London bullion prices from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold rose $4.30, or 0.4%, to $1,182.80 an ounce,
- Silver added 6 cents, or 0.4%, to $15.93 an ounce,
- Platinum fell $13, or 1.2%, $1,095 an ounce, and
- Palladium declined $7, or 0.9%, to $739 an ounce.
London gold and platinum prices gained 1.6% and 0.3% on the week while silver and palladium fell by 1.4% and 1.6%.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in June
Demand is on the rise for United States Mint gold coins. Their sales at 30,000 ounces through almost the halfway point in June are only 1,000 ounces away from equaling last month’s entire haul. Silver coins are flowing faster this month as well. June sales tally to 1,625,000 ounces so far, compared to 2,083,500 ounces in May. In the latest weekly bullion sales comparisons:
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Gold coins advanced 15,000 ounces, matching last week when sales hit the highest level since the week ended March 20. Splits also matched last week with 12,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 3,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalo coins.
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Silver coins climbed by 650,000 ounces after rising 975,000 ounces last week, the most since the week after the first 2015-dated American Silver Eagles debuted in January. For a fifth week in a row, sales came entirely from American Silver Eagles as all the released 2015-dated America the Beautiful Five Ounce Bullion Coins have sold out. The next five-ounce coin will not launch until June 22.
Below is a listing of U.S. Mint bullion products that shows the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | May Sales | June Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 10,500 | 9,500 | 13,500 | 20,000 | 156,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 32,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 10,000 | 2,000 | 60,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 15,000 | 20,000 | 40,000 | 35,000 | 340,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 9,500 | 6,000 | 81,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 975,000 | 650,000 | 2,023,500 | 1,625,000 | 18,571,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | ||||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 12,000 | – | 42,000 | ||
