Gold futures stood alone among precious metals with their weekly gain. The yellow metal surged 1.8% on Friday, closing at its strongest level in more than six years.
Gold for December delivery rallied $25.10 to settle at $1,457.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since May 9, 2013 when gold ended at $1,468.60 an ounce.
Gold prices maintained gains that started later Thursday when President Trump tweeted about raising tariffs on Chinese imports.
"Higher import duties and increased friction for global trade are likely to weigh further on global industrial activity and economic growth which has already been under pressure over the past few months," wrote analysts at ING, in a note reported by MarketWatch. "A further deterioration in trade relations will likely put further pressure on the base metals complex, whilst making safe haven assets such as gold even more appealing."
Gold futures advanced 2.7% this week after sliding 0.5% last week. They are 13.8% higher on the year to date. In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"This week, 14 market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. A total of 13 voters, or 93%, called for gold to be higher. There was only one or 7%, who called for lower price and nobody in the survey saw neutral price action in the near-term.
Meanwhile, 870 respondents took part in Kitco’s online Main Street poll. A total of 540 voters, or 62%, called for gold to rise. Another 229, or 25%, predicted gold would fall. The remaining 117 voters, or 13%, saw a sideways market."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery tacked on 9 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $16.27 an ounce. Silver futures declined 0.8% this week following three straight weekly increases that had lifted prices by a combined $1.40 or 9.3%. They are 4.7% higher on the year. As recently as Wednesday, July 24, they ended at $16.626 an ounce for their best close since June 14, 2018.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
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October platinum rose $1.70, or 0.2%, to $853 an ounce, but lost 1.7% on the week.
- Palladium for September declined $10.10, or 0.7%, to $1,404.20 an ounce, deepening its weekly loss to 8.3%.
Both remain higher on the year so far with gains of 6.6% for platinum and 17.3% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices finished higher on Friday and mostly lower for the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold jumped $34.95, or 2.5%, to $1,441.75 an ounce.
- Silver added 19 cents, or 1.2%, to $16.195 an ounce.
- Platinum declined $3, or 0.4%, to $841 an ounce.
- Palladium was unchanged at $1,451 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results, gold rose 1.5% while silver lost 1.5%, platinum declined 2.8% and palladium tumbled 5.2%.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales improved from last week. In week-over-week comparisons:
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Gold bullion coins climbed by 2,500 ounces after rising by 1,000 ounces previously. Sales last week came entirely from American Gold Eagles. Splits this week included 2,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 500 ounces in American Gold Buffalo coins.
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American Silver Eagle rose by 756,000 compared to their increase last week of 147,000.
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Five-ounce America the Beautiful silver coins moved up by 65,000 units for 325,000 ounces after several weeks of not advancing. All increases resulted from this week’s release of the issue honoring Guam’s War in the Pacific National Historical Park.
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** | August | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 0 | 81,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 0 | 22,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 28,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 15,000 | 0 | 160,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 500 | 0 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 48,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 147,000 | 756,000 | 1,240,000 | 0 | 11,262,000 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 2,000 | N/A | 65,000 | 57,000 | 8,000 | 65,000 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | ||||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | ||||
**The U.S. Mint on Friday adjusted upward its July sales of American Eagle gold and silver coins. Increases included 500 ounces in 1oz Gold Eagles; 1,000 ounces in 1/2oz Gold Eagles; and 16,000 ounces in Silver Eagles.
