Precious metals futures divided Friday with platinum and palladium rising and gold and silver falling. The latter two dipped from five-week highs. All four metals gained on the week, however.
Gold for December delivery on Friday dipped $3.40, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,511.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"For now, gold is under pressure with the positive economic news. … It will be struggling for some direction," Reuters quoted Mitsubishi analyst Jonathan Butler.
"From here, it’s difficult to see what the major upside factors would be for gold other than some geopolitical events, with the U.S. Federal Reserve pretty set on keeping rates on hold for now."
Among the positive economic news was a better-than-expected U.S. employment report which showed employers added 128,000 new jobs in October.
Gold futures moved up 0.4% this week following gains of 0.8% last week and 0.4% in the week before then. On Thursday, they closed at their highest price since Sept. 26 and posted an October increase of 2.8%. The yellow metal is 18% 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. Seven analysts or 50% said they see prices trading sideways next week. Four analysts, or 29%, predicted that gold will rise. The remaining three voters, or 21%, expect prices will fall next week.
Meanwhile, 552 respondents took part in an online Main Street poll. A total of 403 voters, or 72%, called for gold to rise. Another 87, or 16%, predicted gold will fall. The remaining 62voters, or 11%, saw a sideways market."
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery shed 1.5 cents, or 0.08%, to close at $18.052 an ounce.
Silver futures rose 0.7% this week — their third straight weekly increase. They jumped 2% last week and edged 0.2% higher in the week ended Oct. 18.
On Thursday, the contract marked its best close since Sept. 25 and registered a 6.3% increase in October. Silver is 16.2% higher on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
January platinum tacked on $20.30, or 2.2%, to end at $954 an ounce, for a 2.2% weekly gain.
- Palladium for December delivery settled up $28.70, or 1.6%, to $1,784.30 an ounce, for a 2.3% weekly gain. On Wednesday, palladium logged a record settlement of $1,792.10 an ounce.
Both metals are ahead on the year so far with advances of 19.2% for platinum and 49% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices ended mixed on Friday and for the week. In comparing their latest day-over-day PM prices:
- Gold declined $2.15, or 0.1%, to $1,508.80 an ounce.
- Silver added 6.5 cents, or 0.4%, to $18.12 an ounce.
- Platinum was unchanged at $936 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results, gold fell 0.3%, silver slipped a half penny and platinum rose 0.5%.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were muted last week. This week, the agency’s American Silver Eagles were its only bullion coin gainers, rising by 167,000 ounces.
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 / November | Last Week | This Week | September | October | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,500 | 8,000 | 98,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 34,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 20,000 | 190,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,500 | 3,000 | 55,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 167,000 | 1,021,000 | 1,110,500 | 14,400,500 |
| San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 37,700 | 17,500 | 55,200 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,500 | 500 | 72,500 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | ||||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | ||||
