Gold advanced Friday, extending its winning streak to three sessions and notching a weekly gain of 1.9% — the biggest in a month.
Gold for April delivery rose $5.70, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,262.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The precious metal advanced on safe-have demand driven by disappointing employment figures, opined analysts.
"Gold definitely got a bid to it from the weaker numbers," Frank McGhee, the head dealer at Integrated Brokerage Services LLC in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News. "What remains to be seen is if this is a one-off thing or the economy is showing signs of weakness."
The U.S. economy added 113,000 jobs in January, the Labor Department said Friday, well lower than the 180,000 area many news outlets cited for economists’ expectations.
Gold Outlook
Most participants in the latest Kitco News’ gold survey forecast higher gold prices next week, just as they did for this week. The majority has accurately predicted gold’s direction in five of the last six weeks.
"In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 33 participants, 23 responded this week. Sixteen see prices up, while four see prices down and three see prices trading sideways or are neutral," reports Kitco.
"Participants who see higher values said gold prices continue to hold in a series of lower lows, which bodes well… Those who see weaker prices said in part they’re disappointed gold can’t break through the tough resistance at the $1,280 level."
Gold prices for the year so far have rallied $60.60, or 5%.
Silver, Platinum and Palladium Futures
Silver was the biggest winner of the week, soaring 4.3%. Gains were slighter for platinum at 0.3%. Palladium performed a bit better, up 0.8% from a week ago. In their breakdowns on Friday:
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Silver for March delivery edged up a penny to $19.94 an ounce, advancing for five straight sessions.
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April platinum inched up $4.30, or 0.3%, to $1,379.20 an ounce, rising for a second consecutive session.
- Palladium for March delivery declined $1.55, or 0.2%, to $708.80 an ounce, falling for the first time in three sessions.
For the year-to-date, silver is 2.9% higher and platinum is up 0.4%. Palladium is alone with its 1.3% loss.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metals fixings split on Friday and for the week. When comparing the London fix prices from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold added $2.75, or 0.2%, to $1,259.25 an ounce,
- Silver fell 27 cents, or 1.3%, to $19.87 an ounce,
- Platinum dipped $1, or 0.1%, to $1,379 an ounce, and
- Palladium lost $3, or 0.4%, to $711 an ounce
Platinum finished 0.2% lower than a week ago. The other metals logged weekly gains of 0.7% for gold, 2.9% for silver and 0.6% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in February
United States Mint bullion sales were stronger this week. U.S. Mint reporting showed broad gains on Monday and Tuesday, a flattening on Wednesday, increases for mid-sized Gold Eagles and Silver Eagles on Thursday, and a pick-ups for Silver Eagles on Friday. In weekly bullion sales comparisons:
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Gold coin sales totaled 11,000 ounces, more than double last week’s 4,000 ounces. Splits were 6,000 ounces in Gold Eagles compared to 2,000 ounces previously, and 5,000 ounces in Gold Buffalo coins versus 2,000 ounces previously.
- Silver Eagles advanced by 850,000 coins against the prior week’s 741,000 coins.
Below is a current sales breakdown across all the bureau’s bullion products.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday Sales | Weekly Sales | Sales Last Week | 2014 Sales to Feb. 7 | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 1,000 | 64,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 14,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 8,000 | 0 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 170,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 46,500 |
| American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 25,000 | 850,000 | 741,000 | 5,625,000 |
To review bullion performances for last month, read about January sales of US bullion coins or January sales of Perth bullion.
