Gold and silver logged sharp losses on Friday, for the week, and in October as both metals touched lows not seen since 2010. Conversely, demand for United States Mint gold and silver coins soared for the month. Gold coin sales were the best since January 2014 and silver coin sales the highest since January 2013.
Gold for December delivery fell $27, or 2.3%, to settle at $1,171.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices reached as low as $1,160.50, the weakest point since July 2010 according to Bloomberg News.
"Precious metals cratered, hit by a double-whammy of the rather hawkish Fed policy statement, coupled with a stronger-than-expected U.S. GDP report," Edward Meir, an analyst at INTL FCStone Inc., wrote in a note according to Bloomberg. "Gold is again confronting the specter of a stronger dollar, rising equity prices and tame inflation, a trifecta that does not bode well for price prospects going into 2015."
Gold lost 4.9% on the week, dropped 3.3% in October and is off on the year to date by 2.6%.
Gold Outlook
Results of the latest Kitco News gold survey are weighted much more bearish after two consecutive weeks of a slighter tilts downward. Fourteen survey takers expect the yellow metal to fall next week, 7 see prices rising and 1 sees prices trading sideways. Kitco News reports:
"The end of the Federal Reserve’s asset-purchase program and gold’s break through the $1,180-an-ounce support level on Friday has the majority of participants in the Kitco News weekly Gold Survey seeing weaker prices next week… Those who see higher prices said given the sharp sell-off, gold might try to find some support for a slight rise next week."
Kitco gold survey results last week had splits of 9 down, 6 up, and 6 sideways or neutral.
Silver, Platinum and Palladium Futures
Silver for December delivery shed 31 cents, or 1.9%, to $16.11 an ounce. Prices earlier in the day touched $15.64, the lowest price since February 2010. The white metal plunged 6.3% from a week ago and gave up 5.6% in October. It is 16.9% lower on the year to date.
In PGM future prices on Friday and for the week:
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January platinum declined $10.70, or 0.9%, to $1,235.20 an ounce, falling 1.3% on the week.
- Palladium for December delivery climbed $11.10, or 1.4%, to $791.80 an ounce. It advanced 1.4% from a week ago.
In October, platinum fell 5% while palladium jumped 2.2%. For the year so far, platinum has dived 10.1% but palladium has surged 10.2%.
London Fix Precious Metals
Earlier fixed London precious metals were flat to lower on the day. When comparing London bullion Fix prices from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold dropped $37.75, or 3.1%, to $1,164.25 an ounce,
- Silver fell 58 cents, or 3.5%, at $16.20 an ounce,
- Platinum lost $16, or 1.3%, to $1,227 an ounce, and
- Palladium was unchanged at $784 an ounce
For the week, palladium was also flat while other London metals precious registered losses of 5.6% for gold, 5.8% for silver, and 2.2 for platinum. In October, palladium gained 1.2% while other metals logged declines of 4.3% for gold, 5.3% for silver, and 5.6% for platinum.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in October
U.S. Mint bullion sales are yet to close officially for October, though they are not expected to change. CoinNews.net will publish a more detailed analysis later, but in summary:
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American Eagle gold coins rallied 67,500 ounces in October after sales of 58,000 ounces in September. The monthly amount is the second highest this year, behind sales of 91,500 ounces in January when the 2014-dated versions debuted. 2014 sales now total 446,500 ounces, still well below the 752,500 ounces sold during the first ten months of 2013.
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2014 American Eagle silver coins shot up 5,790,000 in October after the prior month’s pick up of 4,140,000. The amount is the most for a month this year, though sales in January were allocated which held its total down. Silver Eagle sales for the year to date are at 38,041,000, the second quickest pace in the coin’s 29-year history. Silver Eagle sales in record year 2013 hit 39,175,000 through October 2013.
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American Buffalo gold coins surged 21,000 in October after rising 14,500 in September. The monthly total was the most since the January tally of 41,500.
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2014 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins added 5,100 in October after rising 9,800 in September. No new releases debuted this month. The Everglades National Park five-ounce silver coin launches on Monday, Nov. 3.
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American Platinum Eagle coins rose 400 in October following an increase of 2,700 in September. Sales this month were stunted since the Mint stopped selling the coin on Oct. 1. Sales for 2014 ended at 16,700 coins. The Mint will begin selling 2015-dated Platinum Eagles in early January.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of bullion coins sold on Friday, last week, this week, last month, in October, and the year to date.
| American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | September Sales | October Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $100 American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins | N/A | 2,700 | 400 | 16,700 | ||
| $50 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 7,000 | 11,500 | 11,000 | 50,500 | 57,500 | 353,500 |
| $25 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 6,000 | 38,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 8,000 | 100,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Bullion Gold Coins | 10,000 | 10,000 | 10,000 | 30,000 | 50,000 | 490,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Bullion Gold Coins | 0 | 3,500 | 500 | 14,500 | 21,000 | 160,500 |
| $1 American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins | 1,425,000 | 840,000 | 1,850,000 | 4,140,000 | 5,790,000 | 38,041,000 |
| Great Smoky Mountains National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,500 | 0 | 33,000 |
| Shenandoah National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 500 | 400 | 500 | 1,000 | 900 | 22,400 |
| Arches National Park 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 800 | 0 | 22,000 |
| Great Sand Dunes 5 Oz Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 1,400 | 0 | 4,500 | 4,200 | 16,200 |
There has been a Libor rate fixing scandal, a gold price fixing scandal with the aptly named London fix. The silver price manipulation has been well documented by Ted Butler. Yet people are so used to scandal and manipulation that there is no longer any shame or outrage. And financial crooks don’t serve jail time. They just pay a modest slap-on-the-wrist fine, which is a mere fraction of their mega profits. Likely the only thing that can overcome low prices is a physical shortage. If everyone in the US bought one ounce or even one half ounce of silver at… Read more »
Who is complaining? They are offering silver and gold at fire sale prices. They can barely or cannot even mine the stuff profitably at today’s price. Therefore there is a limit as to how far prices can fall when mine production falls off. Take a deep breath, buy at bargain prices, thank whomever for the deep discount and enjoy. China, India and a lot of others certainly are.
Kevin… Cheers to you, and others who see the light…
You hit the nail(s) on the head…. I hate to say it, but even the recent world upheavals like the Ukraine, Isis, and Ebola have had little or no effect on public reaction in relation to Precious Metals as a safe haven. Even the recent stock market shutter didn’t have much more than a 1 or 2 day mini-bump in prices, that didn’t last 48 hours.
The manipulation is criminal.
why not buy copper? it is a precious metal that has many uses it has the potential maybe to double in a short time?. you can buy pounds of it today cheap. if silver and gold goes thru the roof it will bring copper with it. and if these metals do go up they will be looking for a cheaper metal to buy? .just a thought.