Gold futures finished lower on Friday but still posted a weekly gain, their second straight after falling for three weeks in a row.
On Friday, gold for December delivery shed $8.20, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,145.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold was pressured, opined analysts, after the U.S. dollar rallied when Fed Chair Janet Yellen said she expects an increase in interest rates this year.
"The sell-off is most likely on the clarity from the Fed on a rate hike in December," Reuters quoted Pradeep Unni at Richcomm Global Services. "It’s clear from (Yellen’s) talk that the Fed paused in September only for the global markets’ sake."
Gold prices scored a 0.7% weekly increase after rallying 3.1% last week. Thursday was the biggest day this week for the precious metal. It jumped $22.30 to close at the highest settlement since Aug. 21. As for the year to date, gold has fallen 3.3%.
Looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street survey:
"This week, 301 people participated in Kitco’s online survey. Of those respondents, 154, or 51%, are bullish on gold in the short-term. At the same time, 112 people, or 37%, are bearish and 35, or 12%, are neutral on gold prices…
Out of 35 market experts contacted, 19 responded, of which 10, or 53%, said they expect to see higher prices next week. At the same time, seven analysts, or 37%, expect to see lower prices, and two people, or 11%, are neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery slipped 2 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $15.11 an ounce. Prior to Friday, silver’s only loss during the week happened on Tuesday — a steep 47-cent dive. With that in the mix, silver prices for the week fell a nickel or 0.3%. For the year, they are down 3.1%.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
October platinum lost $4.70, or 0.5%, to end at $951.10 an ounce, sliding 3.4% from a week ago.
- Palladium for December delivery surged 11.15, or 1.7%, to finish at $667.60 an ounce, soaring 9.3% on the week for the biggest weekly increase since December 2011.
Losses in platinum and gains in palladium were attributed to Volkswagen’s scandal.
Both metals are lower on the year so far, platinum by 21.4% and palladium by 16.4%.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals were mixed on Friday and from a week ago. In comparing London bullion prices from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold declined $7.85, or 0.7%, to $1,146.65 an ounce.
- Silver added 20 cents, or 1.4%, to $14.99 an ounce.
- Platinum gained $10, or 1.1%, to $945 an ounce.
- Palladium jumped $22, or 3.4%, to $672 an ounce.
For the week, gold rose 0.5% and palladium surged 10% while silver fell 1.8% and platinum dropped 4.2%.
US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in September
Fewer United States Mint gold and silver bullion coins sold this week.
U.S. Mint gold sales advanced 23,000 ounces, falling 142.1% from last week’s 49,500 ounces. Sales splits include 20,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles compared to 43,000 ounces previously and 3,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalo coins compared to 6,500 ounces previously.
For an eighth week in a row, gains in silver sales came entirely from American Silver Eagles. That is due to the first three 2015-dated America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins selling out and the fourth one not available until next week.
The U.S. Mint limited Silver Eagle sales this week to 750,000 coins, down from last week’s allocation of 809,500 coins. Authorized distributors grabbed all by Tuesday.
American Silver Eagle sales at 35,054,500 for the year remain on record pace, up 13.4% from the same time in 2014. Last year when sales ended at an annual record totaling 44,006,000, the coins by this time reached sales of 30,911,000. The U.S. Mint also limited Silver Eagle sales last year but not during the summer months.
Below is a listing of United States Mint bullion products with the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday Sales | Last Week | This Week | August Sales | Sept Sales | YTD Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coins | 500 | 35,500 | 12,500 | 78,500 | 89,000 | 510,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coins | 1,000 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 8,000 | 8,000 | 62,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 24,000 | 16,000 | 138,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coins | 25,000 | 40,000 | 55,000 | 130,000 | 165,000 | 820,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coins | 0 | 6,500 | 3,000 | 20,000 | 19,500 | 168,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coins | – | 809,500 | 750,000 | 4,935,000 | 2,804,500 | 35,054,500 |
| 2015 Homestead 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 35,000 | ||||
| 2015 Kisatchie 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 42,000 | ||||
| 2015 Blue Ridge Parkway 5 Oz Silver Coins* | – | 45,000 | ||||
