Gold, silver and other precious metals fell on Friday, cementing their weekly losses. Gold’s decline on the week, while very modest, was its second in a row following six straight weekly gains.
On Friday, gold for April delivery dipped $4, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,874.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold struggled this week, "largely due to some profit taking after the big run-up since early November, coupled with recent fears that the [Federal Reserve] is going to hike rates higher and/or longer than originally expected," MarketWatch quoted Adam Koos, president of Libertas Wealth Management Group.
Gold prices edged 0.1% lower on the week, trimming their year-to-date gain to 2.6%. In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"This week, 19 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey. Among the participants, nine analysts, or 47%, were bearish on gold in the near term. At the same time, only two analysts, or 11%, were bullish for next week and eight analysts, or 42%, saw prices trading sideways.
Meanwhile, 733 votes were cast in online polls. Of these, 324 respondents, or 44%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 274, or 37%, said it would be lower, while 135 voters, or 18%, were neutral in the near term."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery shed 7 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $22.075 an ounce. The close was the lowest since silver finished at $21.781 an ounce on Nov 30. Silver prices logged a 1.5% weekly decline. They are 8.2% lower on the year.
In PGM prices on Friday and for the week:
-
April platinum fell $12.40, or 1.3%, to end at $951.80 an ounce, for a 2.9% weekly decline.
- Palladium for March delivery tumbled $91.80, or 5.7%, to end at $1,524.90 an ounce, posting a 5.8% loss on the week.
The two are lower on the year so far with losses of 12.1% for platinum and 15.2% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
Published United States Mint bullion sales showed mixed results this week compared to last week. In week-over-week comparisons:
- American Gold Eagles: 16,500 ounces against 17,000 ounces
- American Gold Buffalos: 5,000 ounces compared to 5,500 ounces
- American Silver Eagles: 450,000 against 0 ounces
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) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Last Week | January Sales | This Week / February | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 13,500 | 118,000 | 9,000 | 127,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 37,000 | 1,000 | 38,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 62,000 | 2,000 | 64,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 115,000 | 65,000 | 180,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 5,500 | 59,000 | 5,000 | 64,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 3,949,000 | 450,000 | 4,399,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
