Most precious metals declined on Friday, but they all posted weekly gains — sharp ones for silver and platinum.
Gold for December delivery dropped 29.60, or 1.7%, to settle at $1,768.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices moved ahead 0.6% this week after dipping 0.06% last week. On Thursday, they marked their best settlement since Sept. 14. They are 6.7% 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:
"Kitco’s gold price survey results showed that out of 13 participating analysts on the Wall Street side, opinions were almost evenly split — 38.5% were bullish, another 38.5% were bearish, and the other 23% were neutral on prices next week.
The Main Street side remained more decisively optimistic. Out of the 1,425 participating retail investors, 68% were bullish on prices next week, 19% were bearish, and 13% were neutral. This week also marked the highest survey participation rate since mid-June."
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery shed 12.8 cents, or 0.6%, to close at $23.349 an ounce.
Silver futures jumped 2.8% this week, for their fourth straight weekly increase. Their prior three were much more modest — 0.8%, 0.5%, and 0.4%.
On Thursday, they logged their highest settlement since Sept. 15. Silver prices are down 11.6% on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
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January platinum rose $6.60, or 0.6%, to end at $1,058.90 an ounce, for a 3% weekly gain.
- Palladium for December delivery declined $74.30, or 3.5%, to finish at $2,076.60 an ounce, but scored a weekly 0.2% increase.
Both remained lower on the year so far with losses of 1.9% for platinum and 15.4% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
United States Mint gold bullion sales slowed overall this week compared to last week. The Mint’s silver sales were muted this week. In week-over-week comparisons:
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Sales of American Gold Eagles rose 12,500 ounces after increasing 84,500 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Buffalo gold coins increased 20,000 ounces after climbing 12,500 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Silver Eagles were unchanged after increasing 500,000 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) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Last Week | This Week | August | September | October | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 81,500 | 12,000 | 112,000 | 67,500 | 93,500 | 907,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 21,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 81,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 34,000 | 8,000 | 4,000 | 132,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 50,000 | 35,000 | 25,000 | 390,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 12,500 | 20,000 | 27,500 | 24,000 | 32,500 | 292,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 500,000 | 0 | 3,930,000 | 2,735,000 | 500,000 | 26,175,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
