Gold and silver tagged along with most precious metals in logging gains on Friday, bouncing from multi-week lows, but they still posted sharp losses for the first week in 2022.
Gold for February delivery rose $8.20, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,797.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“A stronger than expected [jobs] print was more likely to have pressured prices lower, but a weaker print has not significantly altered market rate hike expectations,” Reuters quoted Standard Chartered analyst Suki Cooper.
“The gold price reaction suggests the market is more focused on inflation risks ahead of the FOMC meeting.”
The U.S. created 199,000 jobs in December, the Labor Department reported Friday, well short of what economists expected.
Gold futures traded 1.7% lower in the first week of 2022. On Thursday, they settled at their lowest price since Dec. 21.
Silver for March delivery rebounded 21.9 cents, or 1%, to $22.409 an ounce after dropping 98 cents, or 4.2%, on Thursday when it marked its lowest settlement since Dec. 15. Silver prices lost 4% this week.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the first trading week of 2022:
-
April platinum dipped $4.20, or 0.4%, to end at $956.50 an ounce, for a 1% weekly decline.
- Palladium for March delivery rallied $47.70, or 2.6%, to end at $1,921.60 an ounce, for a 0.5% weekly gain.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
United States Mint bullion products scored a strong week of gains, boosted by the release of newly 2022-dated coins. Gains this week included:
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107,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles.
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3,001,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
- 35,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
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 / 2022 | December | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 73,500 | 41,000 | 1,115,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 26,000 | 1,000 | 95,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 38,000 | 2,000 | 162,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 115,000 | 0 | 490,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 35,000 | 10,500 | 350,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,001,000 | 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 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
2021 was certainly the year of silver, unless it was speculators driving the demand. I know I have my load of silver, and not only U.S. silver.
I do fancy gold too, but the price now!