Gold Logs Second Weekly and Ninth Session Losses

Gold futures declined for a ninth session in a row Friday, marking another close at their lowest level in nearly six weeks and posting a second straight weekly decline.

Gold for April delivery shed $1.80, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,201.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the lowest since Jan. 30 when prices ended at $1,196 an ounce.

For now, "it appears that the support is near the $1,170 mark, and if we break that then we could be moving toward the level of $1,150," MarketWatch quoted Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets. And from a technical point of view, "the precious metal is really over sold and we would expect some traders coming in the market to bag some bargains."

Gold futures traded 2.1% lower this week after sliding 2.5% last week. Prices have tumbled $57.40, or 4.6%, since Feb. 27 when they last ended up and scored a 3-1/2-month high. The yellow metal’s gain on the year retreated to 4.3%.

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

"Nineteen market professionals took part in a weekly Wall Street survey. Eleven voters, or 58%, see gold prices rising by next Friday. Six, or 32%, said lower, while two voters, or 11%, are neutral.

Meanwhile, a total of 1,646 Kitco readers submitted votes in an online Main Street poll. Whereas this group was bullish last week, now the largest camp — 765 voters, or 46% — is bearish. Another 644, or 39%, say that gold will rise, while 237, or 14%, were neutral."

Falling for a fourth session in a row, silver for May delivery slipped 11.3 cents, or 0.7%, to close at $16.923 an ounce. The settlement is the weakest since Jan. 26 when prices ended at $16.85 an ounce.

Silver futures sank 4.6% this week after dropping 3.3% last week. They previously leapt by a combined 16.4% in nine straight weekly gains. The precious metal is 5.8% higher so far this year.

In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:

• April platinum added $1, or 0.1%, to $938.20 an ounce, but registered a 5.6% weekly decline.

• Palladium for June delivery fell $2.90, or 0.4%, to $745.15 an ounce, for a 2.9% loss on the week.

Both metals remain higher for the year to date with increases of 3.6% for platinum and 9.1% for palladium.

London Precious Metals Prices

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

• Gold declined $3.90, or 0.3%, to $1,202.65 an ounce.
• Silver fell 25 cents, or 1.5%, to $16.89 an ounce.
• Platinum declined $2, or 0.2%, to $942 an ounce.
• Palladium fell $2, or 0.3%, to $752 an ounce.

Their losses for the week totaled 2% for gold, 4.4% for silver, 4.6% for platinum and 0.5% for palladium.

US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in 2017

U.S. Mint bullion sales improved a bit for gold coins but slowed for silver coins. In the latest week-over-week comparisons:

• Gold coins added 5,000 ounces after rising by 4,000 ounces last week. Splits include 4,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles compared to 3,500 ounces previously and 500 ounces in American Gold Buffalo, the same as last week.

• Silver coins advanced by 280,000 ounces compared to 451,000 ounces last week. Silver sales from this week included only American Silver Eagles. Last week’s sales splits included 450,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles and 1,000 ounces in Effigy Mounds America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins.

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.