Precious metals futures advanced Friday, padding weekly gains for gold and palladium and trimming weekly losses for silver and platinum. Palladium was the biggest weekly winner, ending Friday at a new record settlement. Silver, however, snapped a streak of four straight weekly increases.
Gold for February delivery on Friday climbed $5.80, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,560.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The pullback that we saw the last couple of days gave people an opportunity to buy today," Reuters quoted Michael Matousek, head trader at U.S. Global Investors. "There’s some resistance at $1,562 but if it trades up through there, that’s going to be a key level to where short-term traders are going to be involved."
Gold futures traded 0.5% higher this week after gains of 2.3% last week and 2.5% for the week ended Dec. 27. On Tuesday, they ended at $1,574.30 an ounce for their highest settlement since April. 9, 2013. Gold prices are 2.4% 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:
"Sixteen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. Seven, or 44%, called for gold to fall. There were five votes, or 31%, saying gold would rise, with the remaining four votes, or 25%, neutral or calling for a sideways market.
Meanwhile, 1,171 votes were cast in an online Main Street poll. A total of 556 voters, or 47%, looked for gold to rise in the next week. Another 365, or 31%, said lower, while 250, or 21%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery advanced 16.9 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $18.105 an ounce. Silver futures edged 0.3% lower this week following four consecutive weekly gains that had lifted prices by a combined $1.555, or 9.4%. On Tuesday, they finished at $18.393 an ounce for their best settlement since Sept. 24. Silver prices are 1% higher on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
April platinum settled up $14, or 1.4%, to $986 an ounce, but slipped 0.4% on the week.
- Palladium for March delivery tacked on $12.50, or 0.6%, to mark a record settlement of $2,072.90 an ounce. Palladium posted a 6% weekly increase.
Both are higher on the year so far with gains of 0.8% of platinum and 8.6% for palladium.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices moved mostly higher on Friday and were divided on the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold rose $2.85, or 0.2%, to $1,553.60 an ounce.
- Silver edged up a half cent, or 0.03%, to $17.915 an ounce.
- Platinum added $11, or 1.1%, to $969 an ounce.
- Palladium lost $9, or 0.4%, to $2,110 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results, gold rose 0.3%, silver declined 1.6%, platinum fell 1.4% and palladium surged 6.7%.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were flat for a third straight week according to data from the agency’s website. 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 / This Week | Last Week | November | December | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 108,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin* | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 38,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 1,500 | 61,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 14,863,500 |
| Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 |
| San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,200 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72,500 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 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 | |||
