Gold Rises in July while Silver, Platinum and Palladium Fall

Most precious metals declined on Friday and weekly gains were limited to gold and silver. Only the former scored an increase on the month.

Gold for December delivery settled down $18.60, or 1%, to $1,817.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"Gold still looks strong at these levels and the fact the Fed didn’t really say anything that is going to change course on asset purchases or rate hikes adds strength to the market," Reuters quotedBob Haberkorn, senior market strategist at RJO Futures.

Gold futures managed gains of 0.9% for the week and 2.6% for July. Their weekly increase marked the fifth in six weeks and their monthly increase was the third in four months. On Thursday, gold prices marked their highest settlement since June 16. The yellow metal, however, is down 4.1% 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 14 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, 11, or 79%, called for gold prices to rise next week; simultaneously, only three analysts, or 21%, expect to see sideways trading in the near term.

Meanwhile, 862 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 155 respondents, or 70%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 155, or 18%, said lower, while 101 voters, or 12%, were neutral on the price."

Elsewhere, silver for September delivery gave back 23.5 cents, or 0.9%, to close at $25.547 an ounce. Silver prices advanced 1.2% this week — their first weekly win in four weeks, trimming their monthly loss to 2.5%. They are 3.3% lower on the year.

In PGM futures on Friday, for the week and for the month:

• October platinum declined $19.20, or 1.8%, to end at $1,048.40 an ounce, for losses of 1.2% on the week and 2.3% in July.

• Palladium for September delivery rose $13.10, or 0.5%, to finish at $2,656.20 an ounce, but registered declines of 0.2% on the week and 4.4% in July.

For the year to date, platinum is 2.9% lower while palladium is 8.3% higher.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021

U.S. Mint bullion coins divided in July from June with silver sales quicker and gold sales slower, according to the bureau’s published figures. Year to date, the Mint’s gold and silver bullion sales are substantially stronger than during the same stretch of time last year. In headline comparisons:

• American Eagle gold coins increased by 58,500 ounces, posting declines of 67.9% from 182,000 ounces in June and 49.4% from 115,500 ounces in July 2020. For the year so far, American Gold Eagle sales at 711,500 ounces are 43.9% higher than the 494,500 ounces delivered during the first seven months of last year.

• American Eagle silver coins advanced by 3,104,000 ounces, marking increases of 10.9% from 2,800,000 ounces in June and 186.2% from 1,084,500 ounces in July 2020. American Silver Eagle sales for the year at 19,010,500 coins are 38.8% higher than the 13,701,000 coins sold through the same time in 2020.

• American Buffalo gold coins increased by 14,500 ounces, logging reductions of 47.3% from 27,500 ounces in June and 51.7% from 30,000 ounces in July 2020. American Gold Buffalo sales for the year so far at 208,000 ounces are 33.3% higher than the 156,000 ounces delivered in the same period last year.

Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.