Gold and Silver Prices Rise for Fourth Week, Stocks Advance

Markets ironically rejoiced Friday following a Labor Department report showing that the U.S. economy shed more jobs in September than expected.

The news sealed players’ convictions that the Federal Reserve would ease its monetary policy, which in turn lifted stocks, pressured the dollar to a 15-year low against the yen, and sparked a commodities rally.

Gold and silver surged. Platinum and palladium climbed. By close, precious metals rebounded from sharp losses on the prior day to cap four straight weekly increases.

At the same time, oil topped $82 a barrel to rise for a third week and U.S. stocks advanced with the Dow easing over 11,000 for the first time in five months. European stocks were mixed on Friday, but rose for the week as well.

In U.S. bullion prices, gold for December delivery settled to $1,345.30 an ounce, adding $10.30, or 0.8 percent, on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, the yellow metal surged $27.50, or 2.1 percent, after rising 0.6 percent last week.

"The uptrend in gold continues because the dollar just continues to lose ground," Matthew Zeman, a metal trader at LaSalle Futures Group in Chicago, said and was quoted on Bloomberg. "There’s more downside in the dollar. The jobs number just reinforces the fact that we’ll see more quantitative easing."

Silver for December delivery shot up 52.1 cents, or 2.3 percent, to settle at $23.105 an ounce — its best closing price in 30 years. For the week, the metal soared $1.045, or 4.7 percent. Silver advanced 1.1 percent last week.

Platinum and palladium futures edged higher. January platinum added $3.70, or 0.2 percent, to settle at $1,708.70 an ounce. It gained $26.60, or 1.6 percent, this week after jumping 2.2 percent last week. December palladium rose 50 cents, 0.1 percent, to $587.60 an ounce. The metal rose $12.70, or 2.2 percent, this week following a 2.6 percent increase last week.

"The focus on currencies will be the driving force for the precious-metals markets next week, with the trend for prices remaining higher, despite a bit of a pullback earlier this week," noted Debbie Carlson of Kitco News.

"Part of next week’s price activity could hinge on the outcome of Friday’s and Saturday’s meeting of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, D.C.," added Carlson. "Some of the focus will be on currencies, the topic du jour in the markets lately as the dollar plunges and many nations fret as their currencies rise versus the greenback."

In London bullion weekly prices, the gold Fix was $1,341.50 an ounce, adding $25.25, or 1.9 percent. Silver was $22.370 an ounce for an increase of 42 cents, also at 1.9 percent. Platinum and palladium each rose 0.2 percent this week. Platinum was $1,683.00 an ounce for a pick up of $4.00, and palladium was $572.00 an ounce for a gain of $1.00.

7-Day United States Mint Bullion Coin Sales

United States Mint bullion American Gold Eagles carried their momentum from the final week of September into the first week of October. The one-ounce size increased 30,000 versus 29,500, while the fractional half-ounce and tenth-ounce sizes matched their prior weekly gains of 1,000 and 10,000, respectively. However, American Silver Eagles retreated by more than half, with this week’s 425,000 down from last week’s 985,000. The bullion coins did top the 26 million marker, and are 2.54 million away from reaching a new annual record.

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

( October 1 – 8 )

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).

30-Day London Fix Precious Metals Prices

Business News: Oil, Gasoline, and Stock Prices

Crude oil prices rose Friday, marking three weekly gains. The mostly sour jobs report pressured the U.S. dollar which lifted oil, opined analysts.

"The negative unemployment report makes quantitative easing after the election a virtual certainty. This expectation has already affected the dollar’s value and pushed energy prices higher," John Kilduff of Again Capital LLC in New York, said and was cited on Reuters. "Another leg lower for the dollar is likely thereby creating more commodity inflation. It’s not a demand issue with the employment backdrop; it’s financial physics at work."

U.S. crude oil for November delivery added 99 cents, or 1.2 percent, to close at $82.66 a barrel. Prices gained $1.08, or 1.32 percent, for the week after soaring 6.7 percent last week and 3.8 percent during the week before that.

Prices at the pump advanced a penny between Friday and Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.792 a gallon, according to the daily AAA fuel report. The price is 9 cents higher than last week, 10.9 cents more than the price from a month back, and 32.1 cents higher than a year ago.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, with credit given to the same jobs data and resulting expectations that the Fed will ease its monetary policy.

"The jobs number was terrible, but it clinches the deal for another round of stimulus from the Fed on Nov. 3, and that’s why the markets are screaming today," Phil Orlando, chief equity market strategist at Federated Investors, was quoted on CNNMoney.com.

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

• The Dow added 57.90 points, or 0.53 percent, to 11,006.48.

• The S&P gained 7.09 points, or 0.61 percent, to close at 1,165.15.

• The NASDAQ increased 18.24 points, or 0.77 percent, to 2,401.91.

For the week, the Dow rose 1.63 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 1.65 percent, and the Nasdaq gained 1.31 percent.

And in other world markets on Friday:

• The German DAX rose 15.42 points to 6,291.67.

• The Paris CAC 40 declined 7.29 points to end at 3,763.18.

• The London FTSE 100 lost 4.52 points to 5,657.61.

For the week, the DAX gained 1.29 percent, the CAC 40 added 1.93 percent and the FTSE 100 advanced 1.16 percent.

U.S. Week Ahead Business Video by Reuters

Bank earnings kick off Wednesday with JP Morgan. Expectations in earnings, retail sales, consumer inflation and other topics are covered in the following Reuters’ "The week ahead" business video:

Bullion and Economic Articles

In related United States Mint bullion coin news, quick-read articles from the week included:

• September 2010 Gold Eagle Bullion Coin Sales
  Bullion 2010 Gold American Eagles rebounded significantly in September. The latest United States Mint coin sales figures reveal 88,000 ounces of the precious metal strikes were sold to Mint Authorized Purchasers last month. The tally includes the one ounce Gold Eagle as well as the three fractional 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce, and 1/10 ounce sizes …

• September 2010 Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales
  Bullion 2010 American Silver Eagles slid in September, according to the most recent sales figures released by the United States Mint. 1,880,000 of the .999 fine silver strikes were ordered by the U.S. Mint’s network of Authorized Purchasers in September 2010. This is down 571,000 from August numbers. More interesting, the level is the lowest since September 2009 …

• US Mint Sales: Bullion Coins Ease
  United States Mint coin sales were mixed, breaking a string of two weeks where demand had climbed across nearly every product the U.S. Mint was selling. Demand eased for U.S. Mint bullion coins, despite the continuation of record gold and 30-year high silver prices. The weekly increase for the one-ounce American Gold Eagle …