Gold Scores 4th Weekly Increase, Silver Logs 3rd Week of Gains

Gold futures advanced for the first time in three sessions Friday to notch their fourth straight weekly increase.

Gold for February delivery added $3.40, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,204.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"We have no idea what’s going to happen with some of Trump’s policies — everybody is a little nervous," Bloomberg News quoted Axel Merk, San Francisco-based founder of Merk Investments LLC, which manages $300 million in assets. "Gold is relatively undervalued and will push higher."

Gold futures climbed 0.7% this week, the weakest of their four weekly gains with the past three reaching 1.9%, 1.9% and 1.6%. On Tuesday, the yellow metal settled at its best price since Nov. 17. Prices so far this year are 4.6% higher.

In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following upbeat forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street survey:

"Eighteen traders and analysts took part in a weekly Wall Street survey. Fourteen voters, or 78%, see gold prices rising by next Friday. There were two votes each, or 11%, for sideways and lower.

Meanwhile, 588 participants took part in the Main Street survey. A total of 379 participants, or 64%, called for gold to rise, while 141, or 24%, saw lower prices. The remaining 68 voters, or 12%, were neutral."

Closing higher on Friday for the third time in four sessions, silver for March delivery added 3 cents, or 0.2%, to $17.032 an ounce. Silver futures gained 1.6% this week following two prior weekly gains of 1.5% and 3.3%. On Wednesday, they settled at their highest level since Dec. 7. The precious metal has rallied 6.5% in January.

In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:

• April platinum moved up $19.60, or 2.1%, to $976 an ounce, but still logged a 1.1% weekly decline.

• Palladium for March delivery soared $37.25, or 5%, to $788.40 an ounce, lifting its increase on the week to 5.2%.

Both metals are higher through the first three weeks of this year with gains of 7.8% for platinum and 15.4% for palladium.

London Precious Metals Prices

London precious metals prices were mixed Friday and on the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:

• Gold added $4.50, or 0.4%, to $1,200.55 an ounce.
• Silver dipped 6 cents, or 0.4%, to $16.89 an ounce.
• Platinum rose $7, or 0.7%, to $963 an ounce.
• Palladium added $10, or 1.3%, to $761 an ounce.

For the week, platinum shed 0.8% while the other metal prices moved up by 0.9% for gold, 0.8% for silver and 2% for palladium.

US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2017

United States Mint bullion sales posted an okay week of gains. As expected, they were well lower from a week earlier when the array of newly 2017-dated coins launched.

Gold coin sales advanced 18,500 ounces compared to last week’s 105,000 ounces. Sales splits include 16,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles versus 80,500 ounces previously and 2,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalo coins compared to 24,500 ounces previously.

2017 American Silver Eagles rose this week by 825,000 coins versus their previous weekly gain of 3,747,500 coins. The two-week amount of 4,572,500 coins is already the highest for a month since the February 2016 total of 4,782,000 coins.

On Monday, the U.S. Mint will release its bullion 2017-dated American Platinum Eagle.

Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.