Gold, silver, and platinum prices rose for both the day and the week, whereas palladium saw a decrease in both categories. Gold and silver also reached multi-week settlement highs — more than 11 weeks for gold and 4 weeks for silver.
Up for a fourth day in a row, gold for December delivery rose by $13.90, or 0.7%, to finish at $1,994.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was gold’s highest since July 31.
"People fluttered into gold and found a sense of safety amid geo-political risks. If there is an escalation in the Middle East conflict, gold prices will push through $2,000," Reuters quoted Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago.
Gold prices registered a 2.7% weekly gain, padding their advance to 9.2% for the year to date. Looking to the week ahead, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street surveys:
"This week, 13 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey. Four experts, or 31%, expected to see higher gold prices next week, while six analysts, or 46%, predicted a drop in price, and three experts, or 23%, were neutral on gold for the coming week.
Meanwhile, 105 votes were cast in the X poll (the website poll had technical issues this week). Of these, 72 retail investors, or 69%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 20, or 19%, expected it would be lower, while 13 respondents, or 12%, were neutral about the near-term prospects for the precious metal."
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery jumped by 47.3 cents, or 2.1%, closing at $23.504 an ounce. This settlement marked the highest level since Sept. 22. Silver prices advanced this week by 2.7%, like gold, reducing their year-to-date loss to 2.2%.
In other precious metals, both on Friday and for the week:
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January platinum increased by $6.90, or 0.8%, to end at $905.10 an ounce, resulting in a 2.4% weekly gain.
- Palladium for December delivery declined by $7.30, or 0.7%, to end at $1,111.20 an ounce, resulting in a 3% weekly decline.
When evaluating their performance from the beginning of the year until now, platinum has observed a decline of 16.4%, whereas palladium has encountered a more significant drop of 38.2%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
U.S. Mint bullion sales last changed on Tuesday, with reported gains totaling 26,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 751,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 7,500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Last Week | This Week | August | September | October | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 21,000 | 24,000 | 78,000 | 27,500 | 85,500 | 857,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 2,000 | 13,000 | 3,000 | 91,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 30,000 | 14,000 | 178,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 15,000 | 150,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 605,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 7,500 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 29,000 | 360,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 751,000 | 751,000 | 3,124,000 | 2,970,000 | 2,287,000 | 20,196,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
Seems like investors are getting tired of certain metals while gold retains its shine.