Gold, silver and platinum futures advanced Friday, padding their weekly gains. Palladium, meanwhile, fell on Friday and for the week despite notching a record on Wednesday.
Gold for August delivery on Friday rose $5.50, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,412.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Of course, it was [Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome] Powell not using this week as an opportunity to talk down rate cut expectations, and instead citing that ‘the uncertainties around global growth and trade continue to weigh on the outlook’ which has solidified the price risks for gold," MarketWatch quoted Christopher Louney, analyst at RBC Capital Markets.
Gold futures traded 0.9% higher this week after declining 1% last week. They are 10.2% higher on the year to date. A week ago Wednesday, July 3, gold finished at $1,420.90 an ounce for its highest settlement since May 14, 2013.
In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"Sixteen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. A total of seven voters, or 44%, called for gold to be either sideways or are neutral. There were five votes, or 31%, for higher, while four respondents, or 25%, look for the metal to fall.
Meanwhile, a one-year high of 961 respondents took part in an online Main Street poll. A total of 653 voters, or 67%, called for gold to rise. Another 175, or 18%, predicted gold would fall. The remaining 133 voters, or 14%, saw a sideways market."
Logging their fourth gain in five sessions, silver for September delivery tacked on 9 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $15.236 an ounce. Silver futures traded 1.6% higher this week after falling 2.2% last week. They are 2% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
October platinum rose $3.70, or 0.5%, to $834.60 an ounce, for 2.9% weekly gain.
- Palladium for September delivery dropped $16.70, or 1.1%, to $1,542.40 an ounce, for a 1.4% loss on the week. On Wednesday, palladium scored a record settlement of $1,588.10 an ounce.
Both are higher on the year so far with increases of 4.3% for platinum and 28.8% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices finished lower on Friday and mostly lower on the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold declined $6.15 or 0.4%, to $1,407.60 an ounce.
- Silver fell 12.5 cents, or 0.8%, to $15.14 an ounce.
- Platinum declined $7, or 0.8%, to $818 an ounce.
- Palladium fell $23, or 1.5%, to $1,554 an ounce.
In LBMA results for week, gold gained 1.4% as the others registered losses reaching 0.5% for silver, 0.8% for platinum, and 1.3% for palladium.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were flat last week. They logged gains this week totaling 1,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 262,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint 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 | Last Week | This Week / July | May | June | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,500 | 4,500 | 78,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 0 | 28,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 3,000 | 47,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 97,000 | 0 | 262,000 | 866,000 | 1,035,000 | 10,284,000 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78,000 | 0 | 78,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | ||||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | ||||
Mike Unser –
The 2019 Sales number for the bullion SAE $1 doesn’t seem to add up to the previous day’s report. Not sure…
NumisdudeTX
Fixed. Thanks Seth.