For a second straight session Friday, palladium advanced while gold, silver and platinum declined. Palladium’s win was its ninth in a row. The metal also logged a 21-week high. Conversely, gold finished at a more than 6-week low, and just two days after hitting an almost 10-week high.
Gold for April delivery — the new, most-active contract — settled down $8.40, or 0.5%, to $1,786.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was the lowest since gold ended at $1,764.50 an ounce on Dec. 15.
"Gold prices have moved lower this week, pressured by the Fed’s clear intent to raise rates beginning in March and to begin to reduce its balance sheet shortly after it begins to increase rates," MarketWatch quoted Jeff Klearman, portfolio manager at GraniteShares, which offers the GraniteShares Gold Trust.
Gold prices lost 2.5% this week following increases of 0.8% last week and 1.1% in the week ending Jan. 14. As recently as Wednesday, the yellow metal at $1,852.50 an ounce scored its best finish since Nov. 18. Gold futures are 4.5% 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 29%, called for gold prices to rise. At the same time, seven analysts, or 50%, saw gold prices dropping next week and three analysts or 21% saw sideways price action.
Meanwhile, 495 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 270 respondents, or 55%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 158, or 32%, said lower, while 67 voters, or 14%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery fell 37.5 cents, or 1.7%, to end at $22.301 an ounce. The finish was the lowest for silver since it settled at $22.19 an ounce on Jan. 6.
Silver prices tumbled 8.3% this week after gains of 6.1% last week and 2.3% in the week ending Jan. 14. They are 4.5% lower through the first four week of 2022.
In PGM futures on Friday and for week:
-
April platinum declined $15.20, or 1.5%, to end at $1,006.60 an ounce, for a 2.8% weekly loss.
- Palladium for March delivery rose $8.80, or 0.4%, to end at $2,375.30 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since Sept. 3 when palladium closed at $2,416.30 an ounce. Palladium prices soared 12.9% this week.
Both are higher on the year so far with advances of 4.2% for platinum and 24.2% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged last week. The U.S. Mint this week published gains of:
- 28,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles,
- 11,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos, and
- 1 million ounces in 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 | Last Week | This Week | December | 2021 Sales | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 22,500 | 41,000 | 1,115,500 | 110,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,000 | 95,000 | 45,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 2,000 | 162,000 | 62,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 490,000 | 180,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 11,000 | 10,500 | 350,500 | 53,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000,000 | 0 | 28,275,000 | 4,501,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 | 0 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 | 0 |
