Precious metals futures scored decent gains Friday. Gold posted its fourth straight weekly increase, closing around a 1-1/2-month high, while silver moved ahead for a third week in a row to end at a 5-1/2-week. Palladium, meanwhile, soared by more than $47 this week.
In examining gold, the contract for August tacked on $10.10, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,280.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since April 21.
"The dollar continues to weaken and Treasury yields continue to fall in the wake of the jobs numbers," MarketWatch quoted Michael Armbruster, principal and co-founder at brokerage firm Altaves. "These are bullish tailwinds for gold."
"Next week’s price action in gold is a coin toss, however. I believe that gold’s path of least resistance is pointed higher," he said.
Gold futures advanced 1% this week, marking a 4.3% increase since May 5 when they last closed lower for a week. Prices are 11.2% higher so far this year.
In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their weekly gold survey:
"Twenty traders and analysts took part in a weekly Kitco News Wall Street survey. Sixteen voters, or 80%, see gold prices rising by next Friday. None said lower, while four voters, or 20%, were either neutral or expected sideways prices."
Kitco noted that there was no online Main Street survey this week because of a technical issue.
Elsewhere, silver for July delivery rallied 24.4 cents, or 1.4%, to finish at $17.525 an ounce. The close is the strongest since April 25.
Silver futures gained 1.2% this week following two previous weekly advances of 3.1% and 2.4%. They are 9.6% higher on the year to date.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
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July platinum jumped $24.40, or 2.6%, to $953.40 an ounce, trimming its weekly loss to 1%.
- Palladium for June delivery rose $10.95, or 1.3%, to $834.05 an ounce, for a 6% leap this week.
Their year-to-date increases stand at 5.3% for platinum and 22.1% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices ended higher on Friday and mixed one the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold added $10.10, or 0.8%, to $1,274.95 an ounce.
- Silver rose 6 cents, or 0.4%, to $17.19 an ounce.
- Platinum edged up $1, or 0.1%, to $932 an ounce.
- Palladium added $14, or 1.7%, to $837 an ounce.
For the week, the gainers included gold by 0.8% and palladium by 7.3% and the losers were silver by 0.6% and platinum by 3%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017
U.S. Mint bullion sales slowed sharply from a week earlier. In the headline comparisons:
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Gold coins advanced by 1,000 ounces compared to last week’s 5,000 ounces. Splits include 500 ounces in American Gold Eagles compared to 4,000 ounces previously, and 500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos compared to 1,000 ounces previously.
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Silver coins moved up by 300,500 ounces compared to 618,000 ounces previously — their best week since the one ending March 24. Splits include 300,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles versus 595,000 ounces previously and 500 ounces in ATB 5-ounce silver bullion coins compared to 23,000 ounces previously.
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.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday / June | Last Week | This Week | May | YTD | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,500 | 500 | 10,000 | 137,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 27,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 48,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 30,000 | 240,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 500 | 5,000 | 64,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 595,000 | 300,000 | 2,455,000 | 11,247,500 |
| 2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 4,600 | 100 | 5,600 | 26,200 |
| 2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,400 | 20,000 |
