Precious metals climbed on Friday, cementing weekly gains which were modest for gold and platinum and sharp for silver and palladium. Silver extended its weekly wins to three in a row and marked a 7.5-month high. Gold’s weekly gain was its second straight, and the yellow metal logged a just over 1-week high.
Rising for a fourth straight session, gold for February delivery settled up $9.20, or 0.5%, to $1,810.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Dec. 1.
Gold prices inched 0.06% higher this week after surging 3.2% last week. They are 1% 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, 17 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey. Both bullish and bearish sides garnered seven votes each, or 41%, and three analysts, or 17%, expected gold prices to trade sideways next week.
Meanwhile, 661 votes were cast in an online Main Street poll. Of these, 450 respondents, or 68%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 115, or 17%, said it would be lower, while 96 voters, or 15%, were neutral in the near term."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery tacked on 47.1 cents, or 2%, to finish at $23.717 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since silver closed at $24.259 an ounce on April 22.
Silver prices also increased 2% this week, following gains of 8.5% last week and 2.1% in the week ending Nov. 25. They are 1.6% higher on the year.
In PGM prices on Friday and for the week:
-
January platinum added $21.60, or 2.1%, to end at $1,036.20 an ounce, for a 0.9% weekly increase.
- Palladium for March delivery added $38, or 2%, to end at $1,968.80 an ounce, for a 3.6% advance on the week.
Both are higher on the year so far with gains of 7.2% for platinum and 3% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Published United States Mint bullion sales last changed on Nov. 21. 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) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December | July | August | September | October | November | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 59,500 | 47,500 | 47,500 | 59,500 | 6,000 | 846,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 75,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 140,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 575,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 39,500 | 22,500 | 44,500 | 39,500 | 4,500 | 410,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 850,000 | 850,000 | 833,000 | 1,258,000 | 1,407,000 | 15,904,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 15,500 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
