Bullion & Business Weekend Report; March 20, 2010

Precious metals stumbled on Friday as the US dollar surged against the euro when Greece debt worries were resurrected, but mid-week gains and some safe-haven buying were enough to keep metals in extremely narrow weekly gain/loss positions in both New York and London.

Crude oil tumbled on Friday to register the biggest one-day loss in three weeks, and has fallen for the second straight week.

In weekly stocks, major US indexes climbed — although the Dow broke away from an eight day winning streak on Friday while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq retreated from 18-month highs. European stocks were mixed for the week.

In New York metals weekly prices, April gold climbed $5.90, or 0.5 percent, to end at $1,107.60 an ounce. Silver for May delivery closed to $17.032 an ounce, sliding 2 cents, or 0.1 percent. April platinum rose 20 cents to finish at $1,608.60 an ounce.

"We’re on the verge of hitting a seasonally soft period for gold over the next couple of months," said Brien Lundin, editor of the Gold Newsletter, who was cited on MarketWatch. "But I don’t see anything on the horizon that would point to a big correction in gold, which still has a long-term upward bias."

"Prices will be supported as long as economic uncertainties remain and currencies like the dollar and euro stay weak," Liu Yanli, an analyst at Minmetals Futures Co., said from Beijing and was reported on Bloomberg. "Gold is on a gradual uptrend."

In weekly London bullion prices, gold was fixed to $1,105.50 an ounce, falling 75 cents, or 0.1 percent. Silver remained unchanged at $17.31 an ounce. Platinum settled at $1,617.00 an ounce, losing $2.00, or 0.1 percent.

"The euro went back toward $1.35, which was the main trigger (for bullion’s fall on Friday)," Michael Blumenroth, a senior trader at Deutsche Bank, said on Reuters. "The market was very quiet before that, so I think it was taken by surprise."

"The bold predictions made by some observers earlier this week that gold will undoubtedly challenge the $1140/$1145 mark by this week’s end have run into…dollar difficulties," wrote Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, Inc. "Meanwhile, an unnamed senior official at the World Gold Council said yesterday (Thursday) that global gold demand is expected to rise in 2010 after a sizeable 11% fall last year."

To follow are silver, gold and platinum performance charts, oil news, week-ending stocks, and precious metal article summaries.

London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold and Platinum

(March 12 -19)

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 Precious Metals Prices

World Business Weekly News: Oil, Gasoline, and Stocks Prices

Crude oil prices fell on Friday with "heavy losses" as a stronger dollar put a damper on commodities across the board," wrote Claudia Assis and Nick Godt of MarketWatch.

"The bears are moving back into the market and looking at the dollar as a signal to sell (oil),"Stephen Schork, editor of the Schork report on energy markets, wrote and was cited on Reuters.

New York crude-oil for April delivery declined $1.52, or 1.8 percent, to close to $80.68 a barrel. The price is 56 cents, or 0.7 percent, lower than last week.

Prices at the pump climbed seven-tenths of a cent between Friday and Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.818 a gallon, according to a AAA fuel report. The price is 3.0 cents higher than last week, 20.4 cents more than a month back, and 87.6 cents above that of a year ago.

U.S. stocks fell on Friday,"led by materials companies including AK Steel and energy companies such as Halliburton and Massey Energy, as commodities also fell in a bout of risk aversion," wrote Donna Kardos of MarketWatch.

"The Fed came out this week and said, ‘Everyone just relax. We’re not going to raise rates until we see the whites of the eyes of this economic recovery,’" Don Wordell, a fund manager at Atlanta-based RidgeWorth Capital Management Inc., which oversees about $62 billion, said on Bloomberg. "That was a big boost for equity markets."

For the week, the Dow gained 1.10 percent, the S&P climbed 0.86 percent and the Nasdaq advanced 0.29 percent.

Friday closing figures for the three major US indexes follow:

• The Dow fell 37.19 points to close at 10,741.98.

• The S&P lost 5.93 points to finish at 1,159.90.

• The NASDAQ declined 16.87 point to end at 2,374.41.

And in other world markets:

• The German DAX fell 29.88 points to close at 5,982.43.

• The Paris CAC 40 declined 12.74 points to close at 3,925.44.

• The London FTSE 100 gained 7.50 points to finish at 5,650.12.

For the week, the DAX gained 0.63 percent, the CAC 40 declined slightly at 0.05 percent and the FTSE 100 rose 0.42 percent.

Bullion and Business Articles

In related bullion, business and United States Mint news, interesting or quick-read articles from the week include:

• Der Wiener Walzer Moves Counter-Clockwise – Jon Nadler, Kitco Metals Inc.
  Gold prices slipped a bit in overnight trading amid anemic Indian physical offtake and a further gain in the US dollar. The latter managed a climb back to very near the 80.50 mark on the trade-weighted index and pushed oil, base metals, and assorted other commodities a tad lower. The euro once again slid back towards the 1.35 value zone as no news of any resolution to the Greek problem was on tap for yet another day.

  Greece is still pedaling hard to obtain a clear promise of aid from the EU, but Germany continues to be holding out on the matter, and ‘confusion’ is being expressed by other members of the eurozone. It was suggested yesterday that Greece should perhaps try to get a lifeline from the IMF. Bond investors are still demanding that Greece pay three percentage points more than Germany on its 10-year debt, and the country’s Prime Minister warned that Greece can’t "afford to hold out much longer at current market rates." …

• U.S. Inflation Rises at 2.1% Annual Rate
  The American cost of living climbed from a year ago due to higher energy bills, but those same energy costs fell in February to help keep consumer prices in check for the month, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

  The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the government’s most closely watched barometer for measuring inflation at the consumer level, was flat in February, breaking away from five straight months of 0.2% increases. The month marks the first time since March 2009 when consumer prices did not climb, indicating tame inflation and reinforcing the Fed’s recent statement saying that inflation would remain subdued for "some time." …

• 2009 Gold Proof Buffalo Coins Near 50,000
  Action picked up for numismatic coins, according to the latest US Mint sales report. The prior report showed that only three products garnered week-over-week improvements. More than a dozen passed that barrier in the latest round of figures.

  On the notable front, 2009 Gold Proof Buffalo coins increased by 598 compared to the previous 384 and are nearing 50,000 in sales. In fact, as of Sunday their total was at 48,994 which very likely means the 50K ceiling was actually topped by Tuesday or Wednesday. The proof Buffalo was released late last year on October 29 …