Bullion & Business Weekend Report – Nov. 28

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Precious metals were hit hard Friday when the US dollar rose as worries of debt default in Dubai surfaced following news of their efforts to delay billions in loan repayments. Weekly prices in London were down for all metals, but gold and platinum futures in New York enjoyed gains.

Weekend Recap: Silver, Gold and Platinum Prices; Business Week NewsUS stocks tumbled on Friday as well. Their weekly performances were mixed with very narrow movement — the Dow lost 0.08 percent, the S&P rose 0.01 percent, and the Nasdaq fell 0.35 percent. European stocks were mixed for the week as well.

For London bullion weekly prices, gold declined 3.2 percent, silver fell 2.4 percent and platinum lost 0.8 percent.

In New York weekly figures, gold rose 2.4%, silver fell 0.7% and platinum climbed 0.4%.

Friday precious metals prices follow:

London gold was fixed at $1,104.00 an ounce, dropped $36.00 this week. New York gold for December delivery finished at $1,174.20 for a five-day gain of $27.40.

London silver closed to $17.74 an ounce, falling 44 cents from last Friday’s close. New York December silver futures ended at $18.302 for a weekly loss of 13.8 cents.

London platinum ended at $1,424.00 an ounce, declining $11.00 since last Friday’s close. New York platinum for January delivery closed to $1,447.10, advancing $5.20 on the week.

"This sell-off is predicated on concerns about the fragility of the financial system. It reminds investors that there are still huge risks out there," Bart Melek, global commodity strategist at BMO Capital Markets, said on Reuters.

"The market is reacting to the news on Dubai," Bernard Sin, the head of currency and metals trading at bullion refiner MKS Finance SA in Geneva, said on Bloomberg. "A dollar bounce likely means gold will sell off. People are trying to take profit."

"The Dubai news is the first major negative news in the past two to three months for investors," Chintan Karnani, analyst at Insignia Consultants in New Delhi, was quoted on MarketWatch. "This has resulted in an excuse for profit-taking."

"The US dollar was still rising after midday in Europe on Thursday, driven both by fear of a debt default by Dubai World as well as talk of intervention by the Bank of Japan and suspected intervention by the Swiss National Bank," wrote Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, Inc.

"At any rate, there was a sharp shift in global sentiment as news broke that Dubai World, a holding company for the Dubai government, had suddenly shocked financial markets with a request for a delay in repayment on about $35 billion of its debt."

 

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, oil news, week-ending stock summaries, and precious metal article summaries.

London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold and Platinum
(Nov 20 – 27)



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*

(Nov 20 – 27)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
 
X
-2.4%
-$0.44
$17.74
Gold
 
X
-3.2%
-$36.00
$1,104.00
Platinum
 
X
-0.8%
-$11.00
$1,424.00

(Nov 13 – 20)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
X
 
5.0%
$0.86
$18.18
Gold
X
 
3.3%
$36.00
$1,140.00
Platinum
X
 
5.6%
$76.00
$1,435.00

(Nov 6 – 13)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
 
X
-1.2%
-$0.20
$17.32
Gold
X
 
0.7%
$7.25
$1,104.00
Platinum
X
 
0.9%
$12.00
$1,359.00

(Oct 30 – Nov 6)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
X
 
5.8%
$0.95
$17.53
Gold
X
 
5.5%
$56.75
$1,096.75
Platinum
X
 
2.0%
$27.00
$1,347.00

(Oct 23 – 30)

 
Up
Down
Week % Change
Week $ Change
Friday Close
Silver
 
X
-6.1%
-$1.08
$16.57
Gold
 
X
-2.0%
-$21.75
$1,040.00
Platinum
 
X
-3.8%
-$52.00
$1,320.00
*Week change numbers are for Friday PM-Friday PM

Weekly World Business News: Oil, Gasoline, and Stocks Prices

Crude oil fell "after tumbling to a seven-week low earlier in the session, as investors spooked by Dubai’s debt troubles sold commodities and stocks but eased off some of these fear trades as the day wound down," reported Moming Zhou and Polya Lesova of MarketWatch.com.

"The situation in Dubai revives worries about the recovery of the economy," Adam Sieminski, chief energy economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Washington, said on Bloomberg. "The strength of the recovery has an obvious and immediate impact on both oil demand and prices."

New York oil for January delivery on Friday plunged $1.91, or 2.4 percent, to close at $76.05 a barrel. For the week, oil lost 67 cents, or 0.9 percent.

Prices at the pump fell a half from Friday to Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline was $2.627 a gallon, according to a AAA fuel report. The price is 1.4 cents lower last week and 6.4 cents less than a month back, but 79.2 cents more than a year ago.

U.S. stocks tumbled Friday "as fears about the fallout from Dubai’s debt problems rattled Wall Street in a thinly-traded half-day session following Thanksgiving," wrote Alexandra Twin of CNNMoney.com.

"This is a good day to be looking for bargains," Jay Leupp, senior portfolio manager of the Grubb & Ellis AGA Realty funds, said on MarketWatch. "You would never want to ignore [the Dubai World news], but we don’t view it as a material event to our funds or the U.S. equity market.

Friday figures for the three major US indexes follow:

  • The Dow dropped 154.48 points to close at 10,309.92.

  • The S&P fell 19.14 points, closing at 1,091.49.

  • The NASDAQ tumbled 37.61 points to finish at 2,138.44.

And in other world markets:

  • The German DAX increased 71.44 points to close at 5,685.61.

  • The Paris CAC 40 rose 42.22 points, to close at 3,721.45.

  • And the London FTSE 100 climbed 51.60 points to finish at 5,245.73.

U.S. financial markets took a major beating as stocks were haunted by concerns of a possible debt default by a Dubai state-owned conglomerate. Jon Decker of Reuters reports on this, world stocks and other business news in the following video. Soundbite is Cary Leahey, Senior Managing Director at Decision Economics.

Bullion and Business Articles

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

  • Dubai drags gold to first loss in 10 days – MarketWatch
    Gold futures fell Friday, ending their nine-session winning streak, as Dubai’s debt woes fueled a sell-off in commodities and stocks, while the U.S. dollar gained against its rivals. Gold for December delivery tumbled from a high of $1,195 an ounce to an intraday low of $1,130.10 in electronic trading overnight — a decline of …
  • Gold Futures Drop, Halting Nine-Session Rally, as Dollar Gains – Bloomberg
    Gold futures dropped in New York as the dollar’s rebound damped demand for the precious metal as an alternative asset. The greenback climbed after Dubai’s efforts to reschedule its debt rattled investors. Silver, platinum and palladium also dropped today. Spot gold reached a record yesterday, while the dollar …
  • Dubai Turns Do Sell – Jon Nadler, Kitco
    Being called back to scribe duty by surprise developments has little appeal for those who thought the day might be spent navel-gazing. But, the news never sleeps, it appears. Just when conditions appeared to be defined solely by extreme euphoria, someone, somewhere far away, decided to have a not-so-little…crisis …
  • Bullion Coins Hot, Proof Sets Rise – CoinNews
    Fewer numismatic products are shouting out with noteworthy gains in the latest US Mint weekly sales report, but bullion coins are screaming along with the record highs in gold and silver prices. More visible on collector’s radar were the debut of Zachary Taylor Presidential $1 rolls, clad US Mint Uncirculated Sets and US Mint Proof Sets, which are on a three week rise …
  • First Spouse Coin Sales Gain Momentum – First Spouse Coins
    It’s seems likely that the demand for gold has helped US First Spouse Gold Coin sales rise. Overall sales have been experiencing a steady upward trend for the last three weeks, despite their increases on Nov. 12th to the highest level since the series started in 2007. The Julia Tyler Proof coins gained the most by adding 87 this week, according to the latest US Mint sales figures …
  • Silver Eagles 7,000 Shy of 26 Million – Silver Coins Today
    2009 American Silver Eagle sales were less than impressive at the start of November, but they quickly warmed after silver prices reached year highs. The eagles now look to be the talk of the month. The US Mint’s authorized dealers purchased 986,000 Silver Eagles during the last six days alone, bringing November sales up to 2,586,500. The month already ranks as the fourth best in 2009 with still nearly a week …
  • Collector Gold Coin Prices Rise – CoinNews
    The US Mint has once again raised the prices on its collector gold coins due to the ever-increasing cost of gold. Utilizing a pricing grid that went into effect the first part of this year, the Mint ties the cost of the Gold UHR Double Eagles, the Gold Buffalo Proofs and the First Spouse coins to the average London Fix gold price for the previous week. With $50 windows in their matrix, the gold price can fluctuate …
  • US Mint Sells 46K Gold Eagle Coins in Week – CoinNews
    Gold prices are ablaze. The yellow metal in New York on Monday hit a new all-time record of $1,174 an ounce, rising for a straight seven days. During that same time frame, demand for 2009 American Gold Eagle bullion coins shot up as well. The latest United States Mint sales figures show another 46,000 of the one-ounce gold coins were sold to Mint authorized purchasers from Monday, Nov. 16, to Monday, Nov. 23 …

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