Precious metal futures advanced Friday, led by palladium’s 5.3% jump, but only gold scored a weekly gain.
Gold for June delivery on Friday added $2.20, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,287.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since April 26.
"Gold is up today and will be up in the short term until there is a concrete resolution to the continuing trade tensions between the United States and China," Reuters quoted Rob Lutts, chief investment officer at Cabot Wealth Management.
Gold futures advanced 0.5% this week after sliding 0.6% last week. They are also 0.5% higher on the year to date.
In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"Nineteen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. There were seven voters each, or 37%, who said either neutral or saw higher prices in the week ahead. The bearish camp was not far behind with five votes, or 26% …
Meanwhile, 419 respondents took part in an online Main Street poll. A total of 221 voters, or 53%, called for gold to rise. Another 129, or 31%, predicted gold would fall. The remaining 69 voters, or 16%, saw a sideways market."
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery edged up 1.7 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $14.79 an ounce. Silver futures traded 1.3% lower this week after dipping 0.2% last week. They are 4.8% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
July platinum gained $14.20, or 1.7%, to $865.60 an ounce, but ended 1.1% lower than a week ago.
- Palladium for June delivery soared $67.70 to $1,350.70 an ounce, yet slipped 0.5% on the week.
The pair remained higher on the year so far with increases of 8.1% for platinum and 12.8% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices ended mostly higher on Friday and for the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold rose $1, or less than 0.1%, to $1,287.10 an ounce.
- Silver declined 2.5 cent, or 0.2%, to $14.795 an ounce.
- Platinum added $6, or 0.7%, to $857 an ounce.
- Palladium rose $38, or 3%, to $1,312 an ounce.
In LBMA results for the week, palladium declined 3.5% while the others logged gains of 0.7% for gold, 1% for silver, and 0.2% for platinum.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
Aside from American Silver Eagles, United States Mint bullion products have not registered any gains on the week or, for that matter, on the month.
Bullion American Silver Eagles advanced this week by 92,000 after moving up by 714,000 last week.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday / This Week | Last Week | March | April | May | 2019 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 2,600 | 4,000 | 6,500 | 0 | 40,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 8,500 | 6,500 | 0 | 70,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 0 | 19,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 145,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 5,500 | 6,500 | 0 | 41,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 92,000 | 714,000 | 850,000 | 1,196,000 | 160,000 | 8,281,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 80,000 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
