Gold Logs Fourth Straight Weekly Gain

Gold futures advanced for a second day in a row Friday, securing their fourth straight weekly increase.

Gold for December delivery rose $3.40, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,235.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"Gold’s impressive performance of late, coming amid [U.S. dollar] strength, suggests that gold finally is behaving like a safe-haven asset," MarketWatch quoted Robin Bhar, analyst at Société Générale.

Gold futures climbed 0.6% for a second week in a row after two weekly gains of 1.4% and 0.8%. On Tuesday, they ended at $1,235.80 an ounce for their best settlement since July 16. The precious metal has trimmed its loss on the year to date to 5.6%.

In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:

"Eighteen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. Twelve respondents, or 67%, predicted higher prices by next Friday. Just one respondent, or 6%, called for lower, while five participants, or 28%, looked for a sideways market.

Meanwhile, 444 people responded to an online Main Street poll. A total of 291 respondents, or 66%, called for gold to rise. Another 106, or 24%, predicted gold would fall. The remaining 47 voters, or 11%, see a sideways market. The overall response was the lowest since Kitco News began the online survey more than three years ago."

Elsewhere, silver for December added 7 cents, or 0.5%, to end at $14.70 an ounce. Silver futures rose 0.3% this week after edging up 0.1% last week. On Tuesday, silver prices closed at $14.793 an ounce for their best finish since Aug. 27. The metal is 14.3% lower for the year so far.

In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:

• January platinum gained $2.50, or 0.3%, to $834.40 an ounce but registered a 0.2% weekly loss.

• Palladium for December delivery declined $1.70, or 0.2%, to $1,085.90 an ounce yet advanced 1.5% on the week. On Tuesday, they ended at $1,122.80 an ounce to log an all-time record.

For the year to date, platinum is 11.1% lower while palladium is 2.3% higher.

London Precious Metals Prices

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

• Gold rose $3.05, or 0.3%, to 1,233.85 an ounce.
• Silver dipped 5 cents, or 0.3%, to $14.69 an ounce.
• Platinum declined $7, or 0.8%, to $825 an ounce.
• Palladium fell $12, or 1.1%, to $1,093 an ounce.

In LBMA weekly results, platinum lost 1.2% while the other metal prices gained — 0.5% for both gold and silver, and 0.6% for palladium.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018

United States Mint gold sales were lower for a fourth week in a row. Sales of the agency’s silver coins steadied after three straight weekly declines. In headline week-over-week comparisons:

• Gold bullion coins rose by 4,000 ounces this week after increasing by 5,500 ounces last week. Sales this week came entirely from American Gold Eagles. Splits last week included 3,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 2,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.

• Silver bullion coins moved up by 200,000 ounces this week to match last week. American Silver Eagles accounted for all sales in both weeks.

Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.