Precious metals declined Friday and only palladium moved ahead on the week. Gold’s weekly loss was its first in five weeks.
Gold for August delivery slipped $3.60, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,801.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold prices have found good support from the physical market on the downside, but have struggled to gain momentum as speculative positioning remains light," Reuters quoted Suki Cooper, analyst at Standard Chartered.
Gold futures lost 0.7% this week following four weeks of gains that had lifted their prices by a combined 2.6%. They are 4.9% 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 15 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, nine, or 60%, called for gold prices to fall next week; simultaneously, only two analysts, or 13%, expect to see higher prices next week, and four analysts, or 27%, expected to see sideways trading in the near term.
Meanwhile, 571 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 315 respondents, or 55%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 146, or 26%, said lower, while 110 voters, or 19%, were neutral on the price."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery shed 14.8 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $25.233 an ounce. Silver futures traded 2.2% lower this week after losses of 1.7% last week and 1% in the week ended July 9. They are down 2.3% on the year.
In other precious metals futures on Friday and for the week:
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October platinum gave back $29.20, or 2.7%, to end at $1,061.40 an ounce, for a 4.3% weekly decline.
- Palladium for September delivery fell $42.20, or 1.6%, to finish at $2,662.40 an ounce, but posted a 1% weekly gain.
The two are divided on the year so far with platinum 1.7% lower and palladium 8.5% higher.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
For a second week in a row, sales of United States Mint bullion products slowed from the previous week. In week-over-week comparisons:
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Sales of American Gold Eagles rose 4,500 ounces after they increased by 18,000 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Buffalo gold coins were flat after gaining 3,500 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Silver Eagles climbed 805,000 ounces after rising 690,000 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.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last Week | This Week | May | June | July | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 13,000 | 4,500 | 20,500 | 158,000 | 43,500 | 628,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 0 | 0 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 56,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 86,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 90,000 | 0 | 240,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 3,500 | 0 | 44,000 | 27,500 | 14,000 | 207,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 690,000 | 805,000 | 0 | 2,800,000 | 2,344,000 | 18,250,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 40,000 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,900 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
Tonto saved all his Gold and Silver and sold it all to “Mike Mezack” Understand !!!!
You are correct Kaiser, If the Lone Ranger and Tonto had to deal with the U S Mint today, they would both be riding their horses off the nearest cliff !!!!