Silver, platinum, and palladium recorded significant gains for the week, while gold climbed for a second day in a row but not sufficiently to secure a weekly win, as it continued to be plagued by its five-session streak of daily losses.
Gold for April delivery rose by $9.20, or 0.5%, to settle at $2,024.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
For a second straight week, gold prices declined by 0.7%, and that brought the yellow metal’s year-to-date loss to 2.3%. On Wednesday, gold at $2,004.30 an ounce registered its lowest settlement since Dec. 13.
Meanwhile, silver notched a third day of exceptional gains on Friday, following a recent four-month low. Silver for March delivery increased by 52.4 cents, or 2.3%, to close at $23.475 an ounce.
This week, silver prices surged 3.9% following two consecutive weeks of losses, with a decline of 0.9% last week and 0.3% in the week ending Feb. 2. On Tuesday, silver at $22.154 an ounce finished at its lowest price since Oct. 12. With the week’s gain, silver’s loss on the year decreased to 2.5%.
In other precious metals, both on Friday and for the week:
-
April platinum added $8.30, or 0.9%, to end at $913.50 an ounce, padding its weekly increase to 4%.
- Palladium for March delivery remained unchanged at $952.80 an ounce, resulting in a weekly gain of 9.6%.
When evaluating their performance during the initial seven weeks of the year, platinum has exhibited a 9.5% decrease, while palladium has experienced a 14.1% decline.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
The published U.S. Mint bullion sales last changed on Thursday, with gains including 5,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 5,000 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 | January | February | 2024 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 3,500 | 87,500 | 6,500 | 94,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25,000 | 0 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 46,000 | 4,000 | 50,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 115,000 | 25,000 | 140,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 5,000 | 46,500 | 5,500 | 52,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 850,000 | 0 | 4,900,000 | 850,000 | 5,750,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
