Bullion Prices Hit Highs and Records, Stocks Rally for Week

Precious metals rallied for a second straight week as gold reached an all-time record of $1,301.60 an ounce while silver hit a fresh 30-year high.

The metals were lifted in large part this week as the U.S. dollar continued to show weakness after the Federal Reserve on Tuesday said inflation was lower than target levels and signaled it was ready to ease its monetary policy to spur economic growth.

In other markets, crude oil gained with other commodities while U.S. stocks surged. Major indexes closed at their highest levels since May with weekly gains — their fourth straight, ranging between 2 and 3 percent. Major European indexes climbed higher for the week as well.

In U.S. bullion prices, gold for December delivery closed Friday at $1,298.10 an ounce, advancing $1.80, or 0.1 percent, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The yellow metal rose $20.60, or 1.6 percent for the week after rising $31 or 2.5 percent last week. It has now gained in seven of the past eight weeks.

"Gold hit the psychologically important $1,300, so you’re seeing some profit-taking after hitting that number," Matthew Zeman, a metal trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago, said and was quoted on Bloomberg. "Expect gold to work its way higher. There’s nobody in the dollar-bull camp. The Fed is cranking up the printing press again, and the dollar is going to suffer for it."

Silver for September delivery on Friday rose 18.6 cents, or 0.9 percent, to end at $21.399 an ounce — its highest closing price since October 1980. It gained 58.3 cents, or 2.8 percent, this week after soaring 97.1 cents, or 4.9 percent, last week.

"Silver is outpacing gold and has for the week and so far for the month," noted Debbie Carlson of Kitco News.

For September, silver is 10.1 percent higher while gold is up 3.8 percent.

Carlson said that both metals were "spurred by investment buying and an accommodating U.S. Federal Reserve," and that they "rallied on their roles as alternative currencies." She added that "Reports of central bank buying of gold and producer de-hedging of gold also lent support. And in the long-term, most market watchers believe both of these precious metals have an upward trajectory."

Platinum for January delivery declined $4.80, or 0.3 percent, to end at $1645.40 an ounce on Friday. It gained $23.50, or 1.4 percent, this week after surging $79.40, or 5.1 percent, last week.

Palladium for December delivery rose $3.65, or 0.7 percent, to close Friday at $560.50 an ounce. It jumped $14.80, or 2.7 percent, this week after rising $25.85, or 5.0 percent, last week.

In London bullion weekly prices, the gold Fix was $1,297.00 an ounce, adding $23.00, or 1.8 percent. Silver was $21.350 an ounce for a pick up of 50 cents, or 2.4 percent, this week. Platinum was $1,645.00 an ounce, gaining $27.00, or 1.7 percent. And palladium was $562.00 an ounce, advancing $15.00, or 2.7 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

(September 17-24)

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).

September London Fix Precious Metals Prices

Business News: Oil, Gasoline, and Stock Prices

Crude oil prices on Friday received a boost from a weaker greenback as futures moved along with other commodities.

"Oil is finally following gold and the other commodities," Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago, said and was quoted on Bloomberg. "Oil was held back earlier this week by the bearish fundamentals. Demand is weak, inventories are at the highest level since they began keeping track and the economic news wasn’t great."

On Friday, U.S. crude oil for November delivery surged $1.31, or 1.7 percent, to $76.49 a barrel. For the week, the most active contracts jumped 3.84 percent after plummeting $2.79, or 3.65 percent, last week.

Prices at the pump fell sixth-tenths of a cent between Friday and Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.704 a gallon, according to the daily AAA fuel report. The price is 3.1 cents lower than last week, 1.6 cents more than the price from a month back, and 17.9 cents higher than a year ago.

U.S. stocks jumped on Friday "sending benchmark U.S. indexes to the highest levels since May, while Treasuries retreated and the Dollar Index slid to an almost eight-month low as demand for American capital equipment rebounded and German business confidence improved," wrote Michael P. Regan and Nikolaj Gammeltoft of Bloomberg.

Friday closing figures for the three major U.S. indexes follow:

• The Dow jumped 197.84 points, or 1.86 percent, to 10,860.26.

• The S&P surged 23.82 points, or 2.12 percent, to close at 1,148.65.

• The NASDAQ rallied 54.14 points, or 2.33 percent, to 2,381.22.

For the week, the Dow added 2.38 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 2.05 percent, and the Nasdaq rose 2.83 percent.

And in other world markets on Friday:

• The German DAX jumped 113.59 points to 6,298.30.

• The Paris CAC 40 advanced 71.87 points to end at 3,782.48.

• The London FTSE 100 climbed 51.40 points to 5,598.48.

For the week, the DAX rose 1.43 percent, the CAC 40 added 1.62 percent and the FTSE 100 lost 1.63 percent.

U.S. Week Ahead Business Video by Reuters

Reuters editors say investors will focus on upcoming ISM manufacturing data for signs of economic growth and watch out for a RIM offering to challenge Apple’s iPad. These topics and more are covered in the following "The week ahead" Reuters business video:

Bullion and Economic Articles

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

• Eagle Palladium Bullion Coin Act Introduced in House
  Placing the United States Mint one step closer to striking a new precious metal American Eagle, legislation was introduced Wednesday, September 22, 2020, calling for new palladium versions of the coin to be produced…

• US Bullion Coins Robust, Silver Products Rally
  Record gold and 30-year high silver prices boosted demand across almost all United States Mint coin products, breaking a two-week streak of mostly falling sales. US Mint one-ounce bullion coins were the recipients of the most buying action. American Silver Eagles rallied to a weekly…

• US Inflation Below Target, Says Fed
  The Federal Reserve’s monetary policy committee on Tuesday said U.S. inflation is below target levels, and that it was “prepared to provide additional accommodation if needed to support the economic recovery and to return inflation, over time, to levels consistent with its mandate.”…