Bullion Prices & Business Weekend Recap – July 10, 2010

U.S. gold climbed Friday, rebounding to above $1,200 an ounce after trading below the psychological barrier for three straight days. Coming off its worst weekly performance in six, gold posted a modest gain of 0.2 percent this week.

Crude oil rose for the first time in seven sessions Wednesday and never looked back –a three-day coarse reversal lifted prices for a more than 5 percent weekly advance. U.S. and European stocks rallied as well, with major indexes soaring between 3.9 percent and 6.2 percent for the week.

Returning to bullion, New York gold for August delivery jumped $13.70, or 1.2 percent, to $1,209.80 an ounce on Friday, edging $2.10 higher for the week.

"We’ve got some aggressive buyers coming in today," Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago, commented and was cited on Bloomberg Friday. "People still want to be long gold. They’re all willing to buy gold on the dips, but they’re not willing to chase the highs."

"We believe gold prices will continue to benefit from strong investment demand from both private and public sectors. We expect a resumption in U.S. dollar weakness and the possibility of regulatory action will be the catalyst for even higher gold prices going forward," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a research report relayed on MarketWatch.

In other New York precious metals weekly prices, silver for September delivery gained 35.4 cents, or 2.0 percent, to $18.073 an ounce. October platinum rose $29.60, or 2.0 percent, to $1,533.20 an ounce. And September palladium soared $30.05, or 7.0 percent, to close at $456.95 an ounce.

In London bullion weekly prices, gold was fixed to $1,208.75 an ounce, rising $7.25, or 0.6 percent.

"Although we have entered a seasonally weak period for gold retail demand, wholesale buyers have taken the opportunity to buy upon dips, although not aggressively," Barclays Capital said in a note relayed on Reuters.

"Bargain hunters once again made an appearance in the gold markets as their favourite metal was getting set for a third week of price erosion in a row. Thus, bullion values bounced from Thursday’s low in the mid-high $1180’s," noted Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, Inc.

In other weekly London prices: silver fell 11.0 cents, or 0.6 percent to $17.870 an ounce; platinum settled at $1,527.00 an ounce, advancing $19.00, or 1.3 percent; palladium was $454.00 an ounce for a gain of $21.00, or 4.8 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

(July 2 – 9)

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 climbed Friday, "tracking narrow gains in U.S. stocks and buoyed by growth in wholesales inventories that met expectations," wrote Claudia Assis and Cynthia Lin of MarketWatch.

"We’re going to probably continue yo-yoing around $75 through the remainder of the summer," Stephen Schork, president of consultant Schork Group Inc. in Villanova, Pennsylvania," said on Bloomberg. "We’re in the midst of the summer doldrums, which can be dangerous. It wouldn’t take much to make the market move wildly because the volume is light."

New York crude oil for August delivery rose 65 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $76.09 a barrel. Prices advanced $3.95, or 5.48 percent, for the week

Prices at the pump fell one-tenth of a cent between Friday and Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.712 a gallon, according to the daily AAA fuel report. The price is 3.1 cents lower than last week, six-tenths of a cent more than a month back, and 14.7 cents higher than a year ago.

U.S. stocks rose Friday "capping their best week in nearly 12 months, as optimism ahead of the second-quarter earnings season powered a strong rebound from the market’s worst levels this year," wrote Donna Kardos Yesalavich of MarketWatch.

"The market has rebounded this week in anticipation of a fairly decent period of corporate earnings," Tyler Vernon, chief investment officer at Biltmore Capital, was quoted on CNNMoney.com. "This will be a nice bounce, but long term, I think a lot of the concerns about the global economy are still there."

Friday closing figures for the three major US indexes follow:

• The Dow added 59.04 points, or 0.58 percent, to 10,198.03.

• The S&P rose 7.71 points, or 0.72 percent, to finish at 1,077.96.

• The NASDAQ gained 21.05 points, or 0.97 percent, to 2,196.45.

For the week, the Dow advanced 5.28 percent, the S&P added 5.42 percent and the Nasdaq rose 5.00 percent.

And in other world markets on Friday:

• The German DAX advanced 29.58 points to 6,065.24.

• The Paris CAC 40 added 16.23 points to end at 3,554.48.

• The London FTSE 100 rose 27.49 points to 5,132.94.

For the week, the DAX ended up 3.96 percent, the CAC 40 jumped 6.16 percent and the FTSE 100 advanced 6.09 percent.

Bullion and Business Articles

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

• US Mint Gold Eagle June 2010 Sales
  The United States Mint sold 151,500 ounces of 2010 America Gold Eagles in June, marking the second highest monthly level since 1999 and despite June’s reputation as historically one of the slowest months of the year for bullion coin sales.

  June sales trailed behind May’s milestone of 190,000, but the month easily ranked as the second highest of 2010 and, more meaningful, the second best since the sizzling months in 1999 when eagles were purchased at record levels prior to Y2K.

  The June 10, 2010 release of fractional Gold Eagles supplemented sales as the 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz and 1/10 oz size joined the one once version that had been available since January 19, 2010. The fractional five-day figures came in at 310,000 coins, amounting to 48,500 ounces of gold…

• US Mint Silver Eagle June 2010 Sales
  The United States Mint sold more American Silver Eagle bullion coins last month than in any other June since the series launched in 1986. Demand continues to soar during a time of year in which buying historically eases, further jeopardizing the possibility of 2010 proof and uncirculated eagle production.

  Mint authorized buyers ordered 3,001,000 Silver Eagles in June, easily surpassing the prior 2,245,000 record set in June 2009.

  The pace did retreat significantly from May’s 3,636,500 performance when sales fell just 59,500 short of the all-time monthly December 1986 record of 3,696,000. And the summer doldrums are present, noted by the fact that despite the over 3 million sold, June only ranks as the fourth best month in 2010…