Platinum declined on Friday while gold, silver and palladium gained. Palladium’s increase was sharp, driving prices higher on the week. The other metals posted weekly losses.
Gold for February delivery tacked on $21.20, or 1.2%, to settle at $1,783.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold is benefiting from a flight-to-safety as investor worries around a faster Federal Reserve taper and the COVID situation as both Delta and Omicron pose a risk to short-term growth outlook," Reuters quoted Edward Moya, senior market analyst at brokerage OANDA.
"Gold’s end of week performance is significant as it coincides with curve flattening that includes high expectations for a faster Fed taper."
Gold futures edged down this week by $1.60, or 0.09%, after falling 0.9% last week. On Thursday, gold registered its weakest finish since Oct. 12. It is 5.9% 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 14 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, 4, or 27%, called for gold prices to rise. At the same time, bearish and neutral investors were tied, each garnering five votes or 36%.
Meanwhile, 984 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 501 respondents, or 51%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 319, or 32%, said lower, while 164 voters, or 17%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery added 16.5 cents, or 0.7%, to close at $22.481 an ounce.
Silver futures declined 2.7% this week following losses of 6.8% last week and 2.2% in the week ending Nov. 19. On Thursday, the metal ended at its lowest price since Sept. 30. They are 14.9% lower on the year
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
January platinum declined $6.90, or 0.7%, to end at $926.20 an ounce, for a 2.9% drop on the week.
- Palladium for March delivery surged $41.20, or 2.3%, to finish at $1,812.60 an ounce, for a 1.3% weekly gain.
Both are down on the year so far with losses of 14.2% for platinum and 26.1% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
On Friday, the Mint adjusted November sales with increases of 9,000 in 1oz. American Gold Eagles and 76,500 in 1oz. American Silver Eagles.
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 | October | November | December | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 135,500 | 125,500 | 2,000 | 1,076,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 0 | 94,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 22,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 160,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 85,000 | 40,000 | 0 | 490,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 41,000 | 39,500 | 1,000 | 341,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,076,000 | 1,523,500 | 0 | 28,275,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 | 8,700 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
