Bullion & Business Weekend Report – Aug. 8

0

Precious metals carried momentum from last Friday into the new week and tilted higher until the week’s close. Gold edged lower Friday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and crude-oil prices weakened to fall from a five-week high. London metals trended higher through most of the week, marking solid gains.

Weekend Recap: Silver, Gold and Platinum Prices; Business Week NewsU.S. stocks reached fresh heights for the year while European stocks rose for the fourth straight week.

For the week in London bullion, gold gained 1.8, silver jumped 7.5 percent and platinum soared 6.0 percent. Precious metals figures for Friday follow:

London silver closed to $14.65 an ounce, surging $1.02 from last Friday’s close. New York silver futures for September ended at $14.668.

London Gold was fixed at $956.00 an ounce, a $17.00 gain for the week. New York Gold for December delivery finished at $959.50.

London platinum rose to $1260.00 an ounce, a jump of $71.00 for the week. New York platinum for October delivery closed at $1,268.50.

 

"The rise above $970 yesterday [Thursday], coupled with a downturn in other commodities, is probably stimulating investor appetite for profit-taking," Kim Seung Sik, a trader with Tongyang Futures Co. in Seoul, was quoted on Bloomberg.

"The jobless numbers offered up a bit of a surprise, declining to a national US rate of 9.4% in lieu of the climb to 9.6% that many an analyst had expected/dreaded," wrote Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals Inc. "The dollar remained above 78 on the trade-weighted index following the news release, but gold turned positive shortly thereafter while oil was down but 50 cents per barrel."

 

Jobs data for July showed the smallest job cuts since last August and an unemployment rate at 9.4 percent compared to the 9.5 percent level in June. Forecasters were expecting a level as high as 9.6 percent.

Gold, considered a hedge during times of high inflation and economic uncertainty, tends to follow oil and move opposite to the U.S. dollar. A rising greenback makes dollar-denominated commodities, like bullion, more expensive for holders of other world currencies.

To follow are silver, gold and platinum performance charts, precious metal articles, oil news and week-ending world stock summaries.

London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold and Platinum
(July 31 – Aug 7)



The London Fix is one of the most used bullion quotes around the world. The London AM fix for gold and platinum begins at 10:30am GMT (5:30am in New York), and the PM fix begins at 3pm GMT (10am in New York). The London Fix for silver begins each business day at 12pm GMT (7am in New York).

London Fix figures: percent and dollar changes*

(July 31 – Aug 7)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
X
 
7.5%
$1.02
$14.65
Gold
X
 
1.8%
$17.00
$956.00
Platinum
X
 
6.0%
$71.00
$1260.00

(July 24-31)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
 
X
-1.1%
-$0.15
$13.63
Gold
 
X
-1.3%
-$12.50
$939.00
Platinum
X
 
0.3%
$3.00
$1189.00

(July 17-24)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
X
 
4.7%
$0.62
$13.78
Gold
X
 
1.5%
$14.00
$951.50
Platinum
X
 
1.8%
$21.00
$1186.00

(July 10-17)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
X
 
4.2%
$0.53
$13.16
Gold
X
 
2.7%
$24.50
$937.50
Platinum
X
 
6.4%
$70.00
$1165.00

(July 3-10)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
 
X
-6.0%
-$0.81
$12.63
Gold
 
X
-2.1%
-$19.50
$913.00
Platinum
 
X
-7.6%
-$90.00
$1095.00
*Week change numbers are for Friday PM-Friday PM

World business news; oil, gasoline, and stocks prices

Oil prices fell Friday from a five-week high "as a rising dollar offset an upbeat economic report that showed U.S. job losses slowed to the lowest level since last August," Moming Zhou and Polya Lesova wrote at MarketWatch.

 

"We rose initially at the release of the jobs data, but oil turned around once the dollar got stronger," Tom Bentz a senior energy analyst at BNP Paribas Commodity Futures Inc. in New York, was quoted on Bloomberg. "Prices are still close to $72, which is too high given where supply and demand are."

New York crude-oil for September delivery plunged $1.01, or 1.04 percent, to close at $70.93 a barrel. However, crude prices ended the week 2.1 percent higher.

Prices at the pump continue to rise. The national average Saturday for unleaded gasoline edged higher to $2.638 a gallon, according to a AAA fuel report. The price is a one-tenth of cent more than Friday, 11.1 cents higher than a week ago, 5.8 cents more than a month back, and $1.20 lower than a year ago.

U.S. stocks rallied Friday with the help of the July jobs report.

 

"If you step back and look at fundamentals, you have to say that things are lining up in quite a positive way for the next several months," Linda Duessel, who helps oversee $402 billion as equity market strategist at Federated Investors Inc. in Pittsburgh, was quoted on Bloomberg.

 

For the year: the S&P has gained 11.9 percent, the Dow is up 6.8 percent and the Nasdaq is higher by 26.8 percent. Week-ending figures for the three major US indexes follow:

  • The Dow rose 113.81 points to close at 9,370.07.

  • The S&P 500 gained 13.40 points, closing to 1010.48.

  • The NASDAQ climbed 27.09 points to finish at 2,000.25.

And in other world markets:

  • The German DAX rose 88.98 points to close at 5,458.96.

  • The Paris CAC 40 gained 43.31 points to close at 3,521.14.

  • And the London FTSE 100 added 41.03 points to close at 4,731.56.

The Dow and S&P 500 closed at their highest points of the year after the smallest job cuts in nearly a year lifted economic hopes. Conway Gittens reports on this and other business news in the following Reuters’ video.

Bullion articles of interest

In related silver and gold news, interesting or quick-read articles from the week include:

  • Gold falls on upbeat jobs data, stronger dollar – MarketWatch
    Gold futures fell below $960 an ounce Friday as an upbeat U.S. jobs report reduced the metal’s safe-haven appeal and as a stronger dollar curbed the metal’s attractiveness as an alternative investment…
  • CBGAOK – Jon Nadler, Kitco
    Silver opened with a 14-cent gain this morning, quoted at $14.69 per ounce, while platinum resumed its sharp sell-off, which brought it down to $1244.00 an ounce (off $17) after literally just hours following its near-$1300 achievement in price. For once (not), we do not have to point to any automotive world news in order to explain the past 48 hours in platinum. We could just offer up the names of the profit-taking sellers in the noble metal. We won’t….
  • UHR Gold Coins Top 75K, Eagles Soar, Proof Sets Climb – CoinNews
    UHR $20 gold coins roared, Silver Eagles soared, American Samoa quarters performed and US Mint Proof Sets marched forward. The latest US Mint sales figures also include a fair share of average and sub-par numbers, but the highlights are more interesting:…
  • First Spouse Gold Coin Demand Declines – First Spouse Coins
    The demand for First Spouse Gold Coins leaned lower over a seven day period ended Sunday, August 2. That latest stats from the United States Mint show declining sales for seven of the eight gold coin offerings when compared to the prior week. Anna Harrison’s gold piece was the…
  • US Mint Silver Coin Sales: Coinage Lower; Eagles Higher – Silver Coins Today
    Bullion American Silver Eagles earn the headline news as the biggest selling US Mint coin, and they have for several weeks. July silver eagles sales closed impressively high. In fact, the month was the best July in history with 2.8 million eagles sold. August looks to be starting just as strong. 200,000 are already on the Mint books…
  • 2009 Silver Eagles Set Explosive Records – Silver Coins Today
    American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins were on a tear last month, earning the top spot for the most ever sold in July, and hitting the highest total during the first seven months of a year. Following a May dip, June silver eagles soared to mark the third best month of an explosive year…

  • US Mint Bullion Coin Sales in July – Coin Sales Figures
    American Eagle Gold and Silver Bullion Coins closed out with differing performances. For July, gold eagle sales registered toward the bottom of the monthly ladder. Silver eagles were one rung from the top. But both bullion coins are on track to have an exceptionally impressive year…

Bullion and finance related collector tools

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments