Precious metals futures ended divided on Friday and for the week. Gold advanced for both, closing at a five-week high.
Gold for April delivery tacked on $22.50, or 1.7%, to settle at $1,349.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement is the highest since Feb. 16 when gold ended at $1,356.20 an ounce.
"It’s been a good week for precious metal bulls, with multiple factors supporting the yellow metal," Bloomberg News quoted Jordan Eliseo, chief economist at Australian Bullion Co. "Gold rallied after the Fed pushed through with their anticipated rate hike, whilst the troubling rhetoric around tariffs, and the sharp selloff in risk assets, is also providing some safe-haven demand."
Gold futures traded 2.9% higher this week after sliding 0.9% last week. The precious metal is up 3.1% on the year so far. In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street survey:
"Twenty-one market professionals took part in the weekly Kitco News Wall Street survey. Sixteen respondents, or 76%, called for gold prices to rise over the next week. Another five voters, or 24%, looked for gold to fall. Nobody called for a sideways market.
Meanwhile, 945 voters took part in an online Main Street poll. A total of 575 voters, or 61%, said bullish. Another 281 voters, or 30%, said bearish, while 89, or 9%, were neutral."
Silver for May delivery gained 19.5 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $16.582 an ounce. Silver futures advanced 1.9% this week after falling 2% last week. They are down 3.3% on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
April platinum dipped 70 cents, or less than 0.1%, to $948.40 an ounce, for a 0.2% weekly decline.
- Palladium for June delivery lost $10.25, or 1%, to $971.55 an ounce, for a 1.7% weekly loss.
The two remain divided on the year to date with platinum 1.1% higher and palladium 8.4% lower.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices climbed on Friday and were mostly higher on the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold gained $17.45, or 1.3%, to $1,346.60 an ounce.
- Silver rose a penny, or less than 0.1%, to $16.53 an ounce.
- Platinum added $4, or 0.4%, to $954 an ounce.
- Palladium gained $2, or 0.2%, to $986 an ounce.
As for the week in LBMA metal prices, palladium dipped 0.1% while the others logged increases totaling 2.8% for gold, 0.3% for silver, and 0.4% for platinum.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2018
U.S. Mint bullion gold coin sales were muted for a second week in a row. Silver bullion coin sales, meanwhile, rose by 195,000 ounces after rising by 270,000 ounces last week. For a third straight week, sales came entirely from American Silver Eagles.
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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Last Week | This Week | February | March | 2018 Sales | |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 2,500 | 43,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 10,000 | 95,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,500 | 1,000 | 27,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 270,000 | 195,000 | 942,500 | 630,000 | 4,807,500 |
| Pictured Rocks 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 20,000 |
