Precious metals tumbled Friday, posting losses ranging from 1.5% for gold to 5.2% for platinum. The metals also declined on the week. Gold ended the day at its lowest price in nearly two-and-a-half years.
On Friday, gold for December delivery lost $25.50 to settle at $1,655.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was gold’s lowest since ending at $1,645.70 an ounce on April 3, 2020.
"We’re seeing relentless dollar strength here and that’s going to keep gold vulnerable in the short term," Reuters quoted Edward Moya, senior analyst with OANDA.
"The economy is clearly heading towards a recession. The risks of a hard landing are elevated and this has been just continuing to drive flows into the dollar, which has been bad news for gold."
Gold prices declined 1.7% this week after slipping 2.6% this week. They are 9.5% 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, a total of 19 market professionals took part in Kitco News’ Wall Street survey. Ten analysts, or 53%, said they were bearish on gold next week. At the same time, six analysts, or 32%, said they expect higher prices in the near term and three, or 16%, neutral on the precious metal.
On the retail side, 963 respondents took part in online polls. A total of469 voters, or 49%, called for gold to rise. Another 341, or 35%, predicted gold would fall. The remaining 153 voters, or 16%, called for a sideways market."
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery dropped 70.7 cents, or 3.6%, to close at $18.91 an ounce. The finish was silver’s weakest since it ended at $18.767 an ounce on Sept. 9.
Silver prices fell 2.4% this week after gains of 3.3% last week and 5% in the week ending Sept. 9. They are 19% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
October platinum sank $47.30 to end at $858.70 an ounce, for a 4.7% weekly decline.
- Palladium for December delivery plunged $104.50, or 4.8%, to end at $2,070.50 an ounce, for a 2% weekly loss.
Both metals remained divided on the year so far with platinum down 11.1% and palladium up 8.3%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
After being unchanged last week, published United States Mint bullion sales increased this week by a combined 28,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles; 408,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles; and 27,000 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 | This Week | May | June | July | August | September | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 27,500 | 164,500 | 31,000 | 59,500 | 47,500 | 47,500 | 780,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 138,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 50,000 | 135,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 560,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 27,000 | 56,000 | 21,500 | 39,500 | 22,500 | 38,500 | 360,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 408,000 | 1,350,000 | 925,000 | 850,000 | 850,000 | 833,000 | 13,239,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23,500 | 15,500 | 1,000 | 0 | 80,000 |
A keen observation, Sir Kaiser. Another metal for comparison is Copper:
Copper – Down – 25.2%