Gold Dips For First Weekly Loss in Five Weeks

Gold futures ended lower Friday after scoring a more than three-month high on Thursday. The loss pulled gold into the red for the week, marking its first weekly decline in five weeks.

Gold for December delivery shed $5.30, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,233.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"With such uncertainty around the mid-terms on Tuesday” and the Fed’s monetary-policy meeting next week, "gold is taking a pause after its best winning streak since January," MarketWatch quoted Adrian Ash, director of research at BullionVault.

Gold futures dipped 0.2% this week following four straight weekly advances that had lifted prices by a combined 3.3%. On Thursday, they closed at their best level since July 16. The yellow metal is 5.8% lower on the year so far.

In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:

"Fifteen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. Eight respondents, or 53%, predicted higher prices by next Friday. Two respondents, or 13%, called for lower, while five participants, or 33%, looked for a sideways market.

Meanwhile, 447 people responded to an online Main Street poll. A total of 255 respondents, or 57%, called for gold to rise. Another 127, or 28%, predicted gold would fall. The remaining 65 voters, or 15%, see a sideways market."

Elsewhere, silver for December delivery dipped 2.1 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $14.756 an ounce. Silver futures advanced 0.4% this week after gains of 0.3% last week and 0.1% the week before then. The precious metal is 13.9% lower on the year.

In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:

• January platinum rose $12.90, or 1.5%, to $875.70 an ounce, for a 5% weekly increase.

• Palladium for December delivery jumped $23.10, or 2.1%, to $1,104.50 an ounce, for a 1.7% weekly gain.

The pair is divided on the year so far with platinum is 6.7% lower and palladium is 4.1% higher.

London Precious Metals Prices

London precious metals prices finished higher on Friday and mostly higher for the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:

• Gold edged up 95 cents, or less than 0.1%, to 1,232.10 an ounce.
• Silver jumped 37 cents, or 2.6%, to $14.82 an ounce.
• Platinum rose $14, or 1.6%, to $866 an ounce.
• Palladium added $23, or 2.1%, to $1,114 an ounce.

In LBMA weekly results, gold lost 0.1% while the other metal prices gained — 0.9% for silver, 5% for platinum and 1.9% for palladium.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018

United States Mint gold sales were stronger after four straight week-over-week declines. Sales of the Mint’s silver coins slowed. In headline week-over-week comparisons:

• Gold bullion coins rose by 4,500 ounces this week after increasing by 4,000 ounces last week. Last week, gold sales came entirely from American Gold Eagles. Sales splits this week included 3,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.

• Silver bullion coins moved up by 75,000 ounces this week after rising by 200,000 ounces last week. American Silver Eagles accounted for all sales in both weeks.

Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.