Gold advanced for a third straight session Friday, scoring a 2.8% weekly gain as a weaker U.S. dollar and bullish-taken Fed news buoyed the yellow metal’s appeal.
Gold for April delivery on Friday tacked on $15.60, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,184.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"It’s all about the dollar… and the dollar is getting crushed," Phil Streible, a senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago, said in a telephone interview according to Bloomberg News.
On Wednesday, the FOMC ended a two-day policy meeting and signaled a more cautious approach to raising interest rates.
"Gold (is) still getting traction from dovishly perceived FOMC statement, short-covering and fresh purchases," Reuters quoted HSBC analyst James Steel.
Gold’s weekly increase was the biggest since Jan. 16, and prices returned to positive territory for the year — up 50 cents from their close in 2014 at $1,184.10 an ounce.
Silver for May delivery surged 77 cents, or 4.8%, to close at $16.88 an ounce. Silver prices soared 9% on the week, the most since August 2013 according to Bloomberg. The precious metal is 8.2% higher on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
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April platinum jumped $21.60, or 1.9%, to $1,141.20 an ounce, gaining 2.3% from a week ago.
- Palladium added $13.30, or 1.7%, to $779.10 an ounce, but fell 1.2% on the week.
For the year to date, platinum is down 5.6% and palladium is lower by 2.4%.
London Fix Precious Metals
London precious metals advanced on Friday and were mixed from a week ago. In comparing London bullion Fix prices from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold rose $17.10, or 1.5%, to $1,183.10 an ounce,
- Silver added 29 cents, or 1.8%, to $16.17 an ounce,
- Platinum tacked on $14, or 1.3%, to $1,129 an ounce, and
- Palladium added $8, or 1%, to $778 an ounce.
On the week, palladium fell 1.6% while the other metals notched gains of 2.7% for gold, 4.3% for silver and 1.3% for platinum.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in March
United States Mint bullion coins slowed from a week ago when they soared to the highest level since the week after the 2015-dated versions launched in January. In the latest weekly bullion sales comparisons:
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Gold coins advanced 16,000 ounces after gaining 18,500 ounces in the prior week. Splits were 11,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles compared to 16,500 ounces previously, and 4,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalo coins compared to 2,000 ounces previously. Gold Eagle sales at 34,500 ounces for the month so far are 86.5% higher than the 18,500 ounces sold in February.
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Silver coins advanced 637,000 ounces after rising 884,000 ounces last week. American Silver Eagles accounted for all sales. Last week, sales split with 844,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles and 40,000 ounces in Homestead America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins. On Monday, Silver Eagles sales topped 10 million for the year. They ended the week at 10.62 million. That is more than annual totals from the coin’s introduction in 1986 through to 2007.
This listing of U.S. Mint bullion products show the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday Sales | Thursday Sales | Last Week | Current Week | February Sales | March Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 2,000 | 2,000 | 14,000 | 9,000 | 12,500 | 25,500 | 89,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 24,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 42,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 50,000 | 55,000 | 220,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 4,500 | 12,000 | 8,000 | 54,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 29,000 | 844,000 | 637,000 | 3,022,000 | 2,068,000 | 10,620,000 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 0 | 20,000 | 8,000 | 28,000 |
