Bullion Prices & Business Weekend Recap – July 3, 2010

U.S. gold rose modestly Friday after double-dip recession worries pulled prices down in the previous session to a five-week low for the biggest one-day loss since February 4.

Gold gained $1 before the holiday weekend, but registered its worst week in six and its second straight weekly decline.

Global economic concerns also pummeled other metals, oil and stocks. Crude fell for five consecutive days and ended at a three-week low following a week in which prices had soared toward a two-month high. U.S. and European stocks all registered weekly losses, with major indexes plunging between 3.90 percent and 5.92 percent.

Returning to bullion, New York gold for August delivery rose 0.4 percent to $1,207.70 an ounce on Friday, falling $48.50, or 3.9 percent for the week.

"The market seems to be giving a muted reaction to the non-farm (payrolls) data, which largely came in line with expectations," Pradeep Unni, senior analyst at Richcomm Global Services, was quoted on Reuters. "The U.S.-led global economic recovery seems to be hitting bigger barricades and this worry must support gold," he said. "If stocks stabilize, then expect the slow steady rise in gold."

"We’re not ready to write the epitaph for gold just yet," James Cordier, a portfolio manager at Optionsellers.com in Tampa, Fla., was quoted on MarketWatch. "Gold was getting into a very crowded space" and the week’s correction was a relatively welcomed, he added.

In other New York precious metals weekly prices, silver for September delivery plunged $1.407, or 7.4 percent, to $17.703 an ounce. October platinum fell $66.80, or 4.3 percent, to $1,503.60 an ounce. And September palladium plummeted $51.00, or 10.7 percent, to close at $426.90 an ounce.

In London bullion weekly prices, gold was fixed to $1,201.50 an ounce, declining $52.50, or 4.2 percent.

"People are still considering gold as a safe haven," Bernard Sin, the head of currency and metal trading at bullion refiner MKS Finance SA in Geneva, was quoted on Bloomberg. "Europe is still not in a good shape, and the U.S. is still not in a good shape."

"Market action had gold prices all over the place once again as players trying to right the ship encountered plenty of others unwilling to do so and still jumping aboard cash-laden lifeboats," noted Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, Inc.

"On the ‘good news’ front, India’s gold shoppers made a rare (of late) appearance and picked up some bullion on the back of the price slash offered by overseas markets. August brings more festivals and hopefully more gold buying. To be continued…"

In other weekly London prices: silver fell 67.0 cents, or 3.6 percent to $17.980 an ounce; platinum settled at $1,508.00 an ounce, dropping $48.00, or 3.1 percent; palladium was $433.00 an ounce for a loss of $38.00, or 8.1 percent.

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

London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold, Platinum and Palladium

(June 18 – July 2)

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 News: Oil, Gasoline, and Stocks Prices

Crude oil fell "a fifth straight day to a three-week low on Friday as bearish U.S. job data fanned fears of a double dip recession," wrote Robert Gibbons from Reuters.

"There’s nothing that came out today that would give shorts a reason to cover or bulls a reason to be brave coming into a three-day weekend," James Cordier, portfolio manager at OptionSellers.com in Tampa, Florida, was quoted on Bloomberg. "If the stock market can just steady next week, crude can bounce back to $74."

New York crude oil for August delivery fell 81 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $72.14 a barrel. Prices plummeted $6.72, or 8.52 percent, for the week

Prices at the pump fell seven-tenths of a cent between Friday and Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.743 a gallon, according to the daily AAA fuel report. The price is 1 cent higher than last week, 2.7 cents more than a month back, and 11.6 cents higher than a year ago.

U.S. stocks dropped Friday "to close out their worst week in two months as disappointing jobs data joined other recent evidence pointing to a tepid economic recovery," wrote Chuck Mikolajczak of Reuters.

"Investors are concerned about that slowdown in growth," Bob Baur, chief global economist at Principal Global Investors, was quoted on MarketWatch. "We’re transitioning from a period of accelerating growth to decelerating growth and we hope that is a more sustainable trajectory."

Friday closing figures for the three major US indexes follow:

• The Dow fell 46.05 points, or 0.47 percent, to 9,686.48.

• The S&P lost 4.79 points, or 0.47 percent, to finish at 1,022.58.

• The NASDAQ declined 9.57 points, or 0.46 percent, to 2,091.79.

For the week, the Dow fell 4.51 percent, the S&P declined 5.03 percent and the Nasdaq lost 5.92 percent.

And in other world markets on Friday:

• The German DAX fell 23.28 points to 5,834.15.

• The Paris CAC 40 climbed 8.47 points to end at 3,348.37.

• The London FTSE 100 rose 32.34 points to 4,838.09.

For the week, the DAX lost 3.90 percent, the CAC 40 declined 4.87 percent and the FTSE 100 retreated 4.13 percent.

Apple apologized for the third time in three weeks for problems with the latest generation of the iPhone, and Wall Street wraps up its worst week in two months. Conway G. Gittens reports on these topics and European markets in the following Reuters video.

Bullion and Business Articles

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

• US Mint Sales: 2010 Buffalo Gold Proof Coins Top 21,000
  2010 American Buffalo Gold Proof Coins topped 21,000. Interest in the numismatic 24-karat gold pieces have been progressively declining since their June 3, 2010 opening day, with weekly reported gains starting at 17,465 and then falling to 2,054 and now 1,540. Their bullion counterpart rose mildly by 2,000 to 160,500 for the year.

  1/10 oz fractional American Gold Eagles hit the 280,000 milestone. Those, along with the 1/2 oz and 1/4oz sizes, were issued on June 10, 2010. Aside from their debuting numbers, sales of late have been sluggish despite record high gold prices. Price is clearly a factor, with the more affordable 1/10 oz fractionals far outpacing their brethren. Their sales have now passed the 260,000 sold in 2008 and in 2009.

  As expected, American Silver Eagles did top 18 million for the year in June, but their pace slowed during the month…

• Much Ado About Something – Jon Nadler, Senior Analyst, Kitco Metals Inc.
  Thursday’s massive meltdown amounting to nearly 4 percent dragged gold to below $1,200 an ounce for a brief period. It was the worst decline the yellow metal experienced since early February and it ushered in a major technical breakdown on the charts. Gold however was not alone in being abandoned by some investors for the comfort of cash. Disappointing U.S. and Chinese economic indicators also engendered major sell-offs in crude oil, copper and certain equities.

  Not much was spared as the mood for risk appetite evaporated with a swiftness not seen since one early day in July just two years ago. The final tally for last night’s closing markets in New York showed gold down $43.00 per ounce at $1199.40 bid side. A major 86 cent decline was seen in silver which fell to $17.76 per ounce. Platinum suffered a $33 loss to finish at the $1500.00 round figure and palladium fell $12 to end at $431.00 per ounce…