Precious metals advanced on Friday and all but silver posted a weekly gain. Gold scored its sixth win in seven sessions, ended the day at a more than three-week high, and logged a third straight weekly increase.
Gold for August delivery rose $10.40, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,810.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since June 16 when gold ended at $1,861.40 an ounce.
"As investors get convinced that the U.S Federal Reserve indeed is targeting full employment and that it’s not particularly worried about inflation moving above targets for a period, we could see gold’s move over $1,850 by year-end," Reuters quoted Bart Melek, head of commodity strategies at TD Securities.
Gold futures traded 1.5% higher this week following gains of 0.3% last week and 0.5% for the week ending June 25. They are 4.5% 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 16 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, 12, or 75%, called for gold prices to rise; simultaneously, bearish and neutral analysts were tied this week, with each viewpoint garnering two votes or 12.5%.
Meanwhile, 902 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 550 respondents, or 61%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 178, or 20%, said lower, while 174 voters, or 19%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery added 24.7 cents, or 1%, to end at $26.234 an ounce. Silver futures fell 1% this week after increases of 1.6% last week and 0.5% for the week ending June 25. They are 0.7% lower on the year.
In other precious metals futures on Friday and for the week:
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October platinum tacked on $21.20, or 2%, to finish at $1,095.70 an ounce, for a 0.7% weekly gain.
- Palladium for September delivery edged up $1.80, or 0.06%, to settle at $2,812 an ounce — also for a 0.7% weekly increase.
Both are higher on the year so far with advances of 1.5% for platinum and 14.6% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
The United States Mint published American Eagle bullion sales this week after three weeks of no reporting. The sales included adjusted gains for June and the first ones for July.
Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Last Week | March Sales | April Sales | May | June | July / This Week | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 55,500 | 38,500 | 20,500 | 158,000* | 26,000 | 610,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000* | 0 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 0 | 30,000* | 0 | 86,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 55,000 | 0 | 0 | 90,000* | 0 | 240,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 0 | 33,500 | 11,000 | 44,000 | 27,500 | 10,500 | 204,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,087,000 | 1,053,000 | 0 | 2,800,000* | 849,000 | 16,755,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 35,000 | 0 | 40,000 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 50,000 | 2,900 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
*The U.S. Mint on Wednesday, July 7, adjusted June sales of American Gold Eagles with 1oz coins to 158,000 from 4,000; 1/2oz coins to 15,000 from 0; 1/4oz coins to 30,000 from 0 and 1/10oz coins to 90,000 from 0. The agency also lifted June sales of American Silver Eagles to 2.8 million from 0.
