Precious metals moved ahead on Friday, stacking on to their sharp increases on Thursday and advancing their weekly gains. Gold ended above $1,800 an ounce for the first time in over three weeks.
Gold for February delivery rose $6.70, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,804.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Nov. 22.
“Growth is going to slow into next quarter, and U.S. equities are correcting off their highs, so it seems to be a panic out of equities into safe-haven assets such as gold and silver,” Reuters quoted Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago.
Gold prices finished 1.1% higher this week after edging up last week by 90 cents, or 0.05%. They are 4.8% 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, 11 analysts, or 69%, called for gold prices to rise next week. At the same time, two analysts, or 13%, were bearish on gold in the near term, and three analysts or 19% were neutral on prices.
Meanwhile, a total of 1,027 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 593 respondents, or 58%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 263, or 26%, said lower, while 171 voters, or 17%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery climbed 4.8 cents, or 0.2%, to settle at $22.533 an ounce. Silver traded 1.5% higher this week following four straight weekly declines that had cut prices by a combined $3.15, or 12.4%. Silver prices are 14.7% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
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January platinum added $5.60, or 0.6%, to end at $934.50 an ounce, for a modest 30 cent, or 0.03%, weekly gain.
- Palladium for March delivery added $62, or 3.6%, to end at $1,784.80 an ounce, posting a 2% increase on the week.
Both are down on the year so far with losses of 13.4% for platinum and 27.3% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
Published United States Mint bullion sales this week slowed for gold coins and remained flat for silver coins. In week-over-week comparisons:
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Sales of American Gold Eagles rose 15,000 ounces after increasing 25,000 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Buffalo gold coins climbed 2,500 ounces after rising 7,000 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Silver Eagles were flat for a second week in a row.
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 | October | November | December | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 24,500 | 14,500 | 135,500 | 125,500 | 41,000 | 1,115,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 95,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 22,000 | 10,000 | 2,000 | 162,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85,000 | 40,000 | 0 | 490,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,000 | 2,500 | 41,000 | 39,500 | 10,500 | 350,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,076,000 | 1,523,500 | 0 | 28,275,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 | 8,700 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
A true random number thought generated, Sir Kaiser. With the end of the Mint’s 2021 scheduled product releases and the Christmas & New Years Holiday Season upon us, it sure is quite on the CoinNews news and comments front. Especially with the noted absence of Seth, Mammoth, and now SENZA.
… as in Quiet, don’t ya know?
… and we are grateful for that!
Leave it to Kaiser Wilhelm. A mask over a mask. 🙂