Gold Prices Fall for Second Week, Silver Surge 4.8%

Precious metals were mixed this week as platinum and gold prices retreated while palladium and silver prices rallied. American Eagle bullion coins soared. U.S. stocks were nearly unchanged from last Friday, but oil registered its worst week in three months.

Worries over Irish bank bailouts and China interest rate hikes impacted stocks and commodities. Gold and other precious metals were also burdened by dollar strength and margin increases by CME Group. Bullion coins rallied on dips in premium prices.

For a quick snapshot in weekly New York futures prices, gold lost 1%, silver rallied 4.8%, platinum declined 0.8%, palladium jumped 4.5%, and crude oil fell 4.0%.

In specifics, gold prices for December delivery dipped 70 cents to end at $1,352.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week, gold prices slid $13.20. The second straight week of losses pulled down the yellow metal’s gain this year to 23.4 percent.

"Higher reserve requirements (by China) and the expectation of higher rates to cool their economy means less demand for gold and other commodities," Frank Lesh, a trader at FuturePath Trading LLC in Chicago, was quoted on Bloomberg.

December silver prices rose 34.5 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $27.179 an ounce. Prices surged $1.237 this week after a loss of 80.6 cents last week. Silver prices are 61.3 percent higher in 2010.

January platinum prices advanced $7.20, or 0.4 percent, to close at $1,671.10 an ounce. On the week, platinum declined $13.50 which added to last week’s $61.20 loss and brought the metal’s yearly gain down to 13.6 percent.

December palladium prices added $8.20, or 1.2 percent, to $703.70 an ounce. For the week, palladium rose $30.05, after falling $11.75 last week. Palladium is up 72.1 percent in 2010.

In London bullion prices, the benchmark gold Fix price was $1,342.50 an ounce, marking a weekly loss of $46.00, or 3.3 percent.

It appears a financial aid package for Ireland will be crafted next week and the "sense of calm that has returned today and yesterday is taking away any safe-haven bid that may have emanated from the potential crisis," Tom Pawlicki, a precious metals and energy analyst of MF Global, said and was quoted on Reuters.

Silver was fixed at $27.070 an ounce for an increase over last Friday of 28 cents, or 1.0%.

In other London weekly prices, platinum was fixed at $1,650.00, down $62.00 or 3.6 percent while palladium was $695.00 for a loss of $8.00 or 1.1 percent.

U.S. Mint Gold and Silver Bullion Coin Sales

Week-over-week demand for U.S. Mint bullion coins again improved. November is now the best ever month for American Silver Eagles, and there are still several days of sales left. The .999 fine silver bullion coins, produced since 1986, advanced more than 1.8 million since last Friday, topping their prior weekly increase of 1.685 million. Year-to-date sales are above 32 million, adding to their annual sales and mintage record.

22-karat American Gold bullion coins advanced 32,500 this week, surpassing last week’s pick-up of 29,500. The U.S. Mint needs to sell 20,000 more this month to match the 89,500 sold in October 2010.

The following table shows United States Mint bullion coin sales as of Friday, November 19.

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

London Fix Charts: Gold, Silver, Platinum and Palladium

(November 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).

30-Day London Fix Precious Metals Prices

Business News: Oil, Gasoline, and Stock Prices

Crude oil fell 44 cents, or 0.5 percent on Friday. China’s decision to require that banks increase their reserves by 50 basis points was the most common attributed factor.

"These further moves by the Chinese to rein in their economy and the real concern they’re expressing about inflation is weighing on this crude market," John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund focusing on energy, was quoted on Bloomberg.

U.S. crude futures for January delivery, now the most active contract, closed to $81.98 a barrel. For the week, oil ended down $3.37 after a loss of $1.97 last week. Oil has fallen for two straight weeks.

Prices at the pump declined four-tenths of a cent between Friday and Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.879 a gallon, according to the daily AAA fuel report. The price is seven-tenths of a cent lower than last week, 4.8 cents more than the price from a month back, and 23.7 cents higher than a year ago.

U.S. stocks rose narrowly on Friday, and were flat for the week.

"The market was trying to shake off a general malaise all day," Rich Ilczyszyn, market strategist with futures broker Lind-Waldock, said was was quoted on CNNMoney.com. "Trading was very quiet, and it just kind of grinded up at the end."

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

• The Dow edged up 22.32 points, or 0.20 percent, to 11,203.55.

• The S&P 500 added 3.04 points, or 0.25 percent, to close at 1,199.73.

• The NASDAQ rose 3.72 points, or 0.15 percent, to 2,518.12.

For the week, the Dow gained 0.10 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.04 percent, and the Nasdaq fell 0.004 percent. Last week U.S. stocks closed out their worst week in three months.

And in other world markets on Friday:

• The German DAX advanced 11.44 points to 6,843.55.

• The Paris CAC 40 retreated 7.81 points to settle at 3,860.16.

• The London FTSE 100 fell 35.88 points to 5,732.83.

On the week, the DAX rose 1.62 percent, the CAC 40 added 0.76 percent and the FTSE 100 declined 1.10 percent.

U.S. Week Ahead Business Video by Reuters

Economic data (durable goods, personal consumption, new home sales, third quarter GDP, and Fed meeting notes), Tiffany earnings, and Black Friday shopping will be the top stories to keep an eye on next week. These topics and more are covered in the following Reuter’s "The week ahead" business video:

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