Gold Ends 0.3% Lower on Week; Silver, Platinum and Palladium Log Weekly Gains

Precious metals closed lower on Friday but only gold declined on the week. The yellow metal finished the day at its lowest price in two weeks.

Gold for February delivery fell $21.50, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,829.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The finish was gold’s weakest since Dec. 1.

"It was a choppy week for gold as conflicting themes pulled and tugged against the precious metal," Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM, told MarketWatch. "While bearish investors were inspired by an appreciating dollar and rising bond yields, bulls derived strength from surging coronavirus cases and renewed lockdown restrictions."

Gold futures edged 0.3% lower this week after falling 3.2% last week. They are 3.4% lower on the year to date. In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:

"Wall Street voters, comprised of analysts, were split between gold heading lower and sideways next week, and only the minority saw gold prices heading higher. Breaking down the results, out of 16 Wall Street votes, 37.5% saw lower prices, 37.5% were neutral, and 25% were bullish for next week.

The same worries were not reflected in the Main Street part of the survey as a clear majority still saw prices heading higher next week. Out of 1,701 votes, 54.4% saw higher prices, 21.9% were neutral, and 23.7% saw lower prices next week."

Elsewhere, silver for March delivery tumbled 93.6 cents, or 3.6%, to settle at $24.866 an ounce. Silver futures still traded 0.9% higher this week after sinking 6.7% last week. They are now down 5.9% on the year.

In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:

• April platinum dropped $36.50, or 3.2%, to $1,089.90 an ounce, but scored a 1.7% weekly gain.

• Palladium for March delivery lost $28.20, or 1.2%, to $2,395.10 an ounce, but gained 1.3% on the week.

The pair is divided on the year so far with platinum 1% higher and palladium 2.4% lower.

London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)

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

• Gold fell $2.75, or 0.2%, to $1,839 an ounce.
• Silver shed a half penny, or 0.02%, to $25.245 an ounce.
• Platinum declined $23, or 2.1%, to $1,085 an ounce.
• Palladium rose $29, or 1.2%, to $2,423 an ounce.

In LBMA weekly results, gold lost 1.3%, silver fell 5.3%, platinum added 0.9% and palladium advanced 2.2%.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021

United States Mint bullion sales declined overall this week from last — barely for gold coins and a lot of silver coins. In week-over-week comparisons:

• Sales of American Gold Eagles climbed 77,500 ounces after increasing by 63,500 ounces last week.

• Sales of American Silver Eagles advanced 1,875,000 ounces after rising by 2.8 million ounces last week.

• Sales of American Buffalo gold increased 6,000 ounces after they rose by 20,500 ounces last week.

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.