Precious metals futures divided Friday but they all advanced on the week. Silver extended its streak of wins to five sessions. Conversely, palladium dropped on the day, snapping its string of seven straight record settlements.
Gold for February delivery rose $8.90, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,481.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Although there seems to be some progress, the lack of details is causing a lot of concern that we’re not as far along in the (U.S.-China) trade deal as people would like and as a result we are getting a flight to safety," Reuters quoted Jeffrey Sica, founder of Circle Squared Alternative Investments.
Gold futures traded 1.1% higher this week after slipping 0.5% last week. They are up 15.6% on the year to date.
In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"Sixteen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. There were six votes each, or 38%, for both higher and lower prices. Another four voters, or 25%, were neutral or called for a sideways market.
Meanwhile, 704 votes were cast in an online Main Street poll. A total of 456 voters, or 65%, looked for gold to rise in the next week. Another 144, or 20%, said lower, while 104, or 15%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery added 6.3 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $17.012 an ounce. Silver futures traded 2.5% higher this week after sinking 3% last week. The precious metal is 9.5% higher on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
January platinum fell $16, or 1.7%, to settle at $928.80 an ounce, but moved ahead 3.3% for the week.
- Palladium for March delivery dropped $22.60, or 1.2%, to finish at $1,891.60 an ounce, but logged a 2.5% weekly increase. On Thursday, palladium posted a record settlement of $1,914.20 an ounce.
Both metals are higher on the year so far with gains of 16% for platinum and 58% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
London gold and silver divided on Friday and for the week. In comparing their latest day-over-day PM prices:
- Gold declined $1.20, or 0.08%, to $1,466.60 an ounce.
- Silver added 7 cents, or 0.4%, to $16.935 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results, gold gained 0.5% while silver was near unchanged with a half-cent loss.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were flat this weekly following gains last week of 500 ounces in American Gold Eagle 1 ounce coins and 25,000 ounces in America the Beautiful Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 5 ounce silver coins.
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 | November | December | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 8,000 | 500 | 106,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin* | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 38,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 60,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 14,863,500 |
| Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 |
| San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,200 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72,500 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | |||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | |||
