Gold Ends Week at Three-Week High

Gold advanced Friday while other precious metals declined. Still, all but platinum scored gains on the week. Weekly increases for gold and silver were their second in a row following three straight weekly losses. Gold ended the day at just over a three-week high.

Gold for April delivery rose $9.20, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,741.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Feb. 25.

"We saw a recovery bounce in oil prices … and a setback in yields, so that is good for gold," MarketWatch quoted James Hatzigiannis, chief market strategist at Ploutus Capital Advisors. Still, "what we are looking for are signs of demand picking up in China and India, and any signs of [the economy] opening up in the U.S.," which should get gold rallying, he said.

Gold futures moved ahead 1.3% this week, matching their increase last week. Before then, they registered three weekly losses totaling $124.70 or 6.8%. Gold prices are 8.1% 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:

"This week, 13 analysts participated in the survey. A total of 6 voters, or 46%, called for gold prices to rise next week. Meanwhile, four voters, or 31%, said they see gold prices falling next week. Three analysts, or 23%, saw prices moving sideways…

This week, 1698 votes were cast in online surveys. Among those, 1,101, or 65%, said they were bullish on gold next week. Another 355 participants, or 21%, said they were bearish, while 242 voters, or 14%, were neutral on the precious metal."

Elsewhere, silver for May delivery fell 3 cents, or 0.1%, to settle at $26.321 an ounce. Silver futures traded 1.6% higher this week after jumping 2.5% last week. Before then, silver prices posted three straight weekly declines that had cut prices by a combined $2.04 or 7.5%. They are 0.3% lower on the year.

In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:

• April platinum declined $17.40, or 1.4%, to end at $1,200.10 an ounce, for a weekly loss of 20 cents or 0.02%.

• Palladium for June delivery shed $31.90, or 1.2%, to finish at $2,630.90 an ounce, but still logged a 11.5% weekly gain.

The two are ahead on the year so far with gains of 11.2% for platinum and 7.2% for palladium.

London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)

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

• Gold rose $9.30, or 0.5%, to $1,735.20 an ounce.
• Silver added 4.5 cents, or 0.2%, at $26.175 an ounce.
• Platinum declined $43, or 3.5%, to $1,173 an ounce.
• Palladium dropped $63, or 2.4%, to $2,615 an ounce.

In LBMA weekly results, prices declined 1.1% for platinum while they increased 1.8% for gold, 2.7% for silver, and 10.9% for palladium.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021

United States Mint bullion products compared to a week ago performed stronger overall for gold coins and weaker for both silver and platinum coins. In week-over-week comparisons:

• Sales of American Gold Eagles moved up 15,500 ounces after they increased 18,000 ounces last week.

• Sales of American Buffalo gold coins rose 4,000 ounces after being flat last week.

• Sales of American Silver Eagles added 691,000 ounces after rising 1 million ounces last week.

• Sales of American Platinum Eagles were flat after climbing 4,500 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.