London gold, silver and platinum were pressured lower most of the week as each tumbled 9.9 percent, 9.3 percent, and 13.2 percent, respectively. The Dow climbed 4.75 percent, its strongest weekly gain in 4-1/2 years, while the S&P gained 4.6 percent, and the Nasdaq rose 3.75 percent.
November crude gained $2, or 2.9 percent, to close at $71.85 per barrel. However, it lost $5.85, or 8 percent compared to last Friday’s close.
London silver ended at $9.56 an ounce — a loss of $1.05 on the week, or $2.18 from last Friday.
London gold climbed to $785 an ounce, falling $81 for the week, or $117 from Friday.
London platinum settled at $856 an ounce — a loss of $130 for week, or $145 from last Friday.
"Funds who would like to keep their asset of last resort are being forced to sell, and this is causing weakness in the paper gold market price," said Peter Spina, president of GoldSeek.com.
"There will be more victims of the fund collapse and more forced liquidations even if it requires you to sell your most desired assets such as precious metals," he said.
Gold typically follows oil and moves opposite to the greenback, as a weakened dollar encourages investors to buy gold, also considered a hedge during times of high inflation and economic uncertainty.
Silver, gold and platinum performance charts and tables follow as well as a Reuters weekly business recap video and four related precious metal articles.
CoinNews London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold and Platinum
(October 13-17)
The London Fix is one of the most used bullion quotes around the world. The London AM fix for gold and platinum begins at 10:30am GMT (5:30am in New York), and the PM fix begins at 3pm GMT (10am in New York). The London Fix for silver begins each business day at 12pm GMT (7am in New York).
London Fix figures: percent and dollar changes
October 13-17
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
|
X
|
-9.9%
|
-$1.05
|
$9.56
|
| Gold |
|
X
|
-9.3%
|
-$81
|
$785
|
| Platinum |
|
X
|
-13.2%
|
-$130
|
$856
|
Week change numbers are for Monday AM-Friday PM
October 6-10
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
X
|
|
4%
|
$0.45
|
$11.74
|
| Gold |
X
|
|
7.7%
|
$64
|
$901
|
| Platinum |
X
|
|
4.4%
|
$42
|
$1001
|
Week change numbers are for Monday AM-Friday PM
Sept 29-Oct 4
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
|
X
|
-14.2%
|
-$1.86
|
$11.20
|
| Gold |
|
X
|
-5.5%
|
-$49
|
$828
|
| Platinum |
|
X
|
-13.4%
|
-$148
|
$959
|
Week change numbers are for Monday AM-Friday PM
Sept 22-26
|
Up
|
Down
|
Week % Change
|
Week $ Change
|
Friday Close
|
|
| Silver |
X
|
|
1.5%
|
$.20
|
$13.18
|
| Gold |
X
|
|
3.3%
|
$29
|
$902
|
| Platinum |
|
X
|
-4.4%
|
-$53
|
$1140
|
Week change numbers are for Monday AM-Friday PM
Bullion and business related articles for the week
In related news, interesting or quick-read articles:
- October 17 – Gold falls for seventh day on funds liquidation – MarketWatch
Gold futures fell Friday for a seventh straight session, with the benchmark contract marking its biggest weekly decline in two months as investors flee into cash.
- October 17 – Gold falls 3 pct as dollar firms – Reuters
Gold fell 3 percent on Friday, extending the previous session’s losses, as the dollar firmed against the euro, and investors sold bullion to cover losses on other markets.
- October 17 – Autumn Leaves and Other Falling Things – Jon Nadler
Gold prices lost more than 8% during this most turbulent of weeks, bringing their 30-day net change to a minus 9.1% and shrinking the 1-year net change to only 3.6% as a result of relentless fund liquidations and selling by frustrated longs. Thus ended the largest weekly loss in over two months.
- October 17 – US Mint Returns American Eagle Platinum Coins
The United States Mint surprised collectors Friday with the return of both proof and uncirculated 2008 American Eagle Platinum coins carrying the “W” mintmark. And even better, the new prices are substantially lower than those from 2007 or in mid 2008.
Business week overview and wrap-up by Reuters News
Blue chips surged 4.75 percent for the week, but floundered on Friday as weak housing and consumer sentiment data added to recession fears.
In stock market action, the three major US indexes:
-
The Dow dropped 127.04 points Friday to close at 8,852.22.
-
The S&P 500 fell 5.88 points Friday, closing to 940.55. It had a weekly gain of 4.6 percent.
- The Nasdaq lost 6.42 points Friday to finish at 1,711.29. It rose 3.75 percent for the week.
In other world markets:
-
The German DAX gained 158.52 points to close at 4,781.33.
-
The Paris CAC 40 climbed 148.92 points to close at 3,329.92.
- And the London FTSE 100 rose 201.60 points to close at 4,063.
Conway Gittens reports from New York.
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