Precious metals declined on Friday and for the week — their first weekly losses in three weeks. Declines in silver and palladium were their sixth in a row, and both finished the day at their lowest price since Sept. 6. Gold, meanwhile, marked an almost three-week low.
On Friday, gold for December delivery fell $28.10, or 1.7%, to settle at $1,648.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Sept. 27.
"The inflation data was terrible for the yellow metal as it cemented a 75 basis point hike from the Fed next month. Not just that, with inflation seemingly so stubborn, it may need to go further than markets previously anticipated," MarketWatch quoted Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda, in a note.
On Thursday, the U.S. Labor Department reported that consumer prices increased 0.4% in September after rising 0.1% in August and that year-over-year inflation was 8.2% from 8.3%. In addition, the data showed that core inflation, which strips food and energy, increased from a year ago by 6.6%, marking the largest increase in 40 years.
Gold prices shed 3.5% this week following increases of 2.2% last week and 1% in the week ending Sept. 30. They are 9.8% 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:
"Kitco’s weekly gold survey results revealed that Wall Street is now exceedingly bearish on gold prices next week. Out of nine analysts participating in the survey, 78% said they expected lower prices next week, and only 22% were bullish. There were no votes expecting sideways action next week.
The Main Street side remained bullish for next week, but the bearish segment was growing. Out of 858 retail participants, 45% expected higher prices, 35% called for a move lower, and 20% remained neutral, Kitco’s survey showed."
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery tumbled 84.7 cents, or 4.5% to settle at $18.071 an ounce.
Silver plummeted 10.8% this week following gains of 6.4% last week and 0.7% in the week ending Sept. 30. They are 22.6% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
January platinum dipped $1.50, or 0.2%, to end at $894.90 an ounce, for a loss on the week of 2.5%.
- Palladium for December delivery sank $119.90, or 5.7%, to end at $1,997.30 an ounce, for a weekly drop of 8.9%.
Both metals remained divided on the year so far with platinum down 7.4% and palladium up 4.5%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged on Friday. 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 | June | July | August | September | October | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 31,000 | 59,500 | 47,500 | 47,500 | 0 | 780,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 0 | 73,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 0 | 138,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 135,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 560,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 21,500 | 39,500 | 22,500 | 44,500 | 21,500 | 387,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 925,000 | 850,000 | 850,000 | 833,000 | 0 | 13,239,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 23,500 | 15,500 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
But gas prices are down as well.
Sir Kaiser, we may all be in the same basket before long.