Bullion & Business Weekend Report – Aug. 22

Precious metals shifted lower for the week in London, but later closing New York gold futures on Friday gained more than any other day in August and registered a positive week. The yellow metal was helped by weakness in the U.S. dollar and the highest crude oil prices of 2009. In other markets, U.S. stocks rallied forward, also marking 2009 highs. European stocks posted weekly gains.

In London bullion weekly figures, gold declined 0.1 percent, silver fell 6.5 percent and platinum declined 2.2 percent. Precious metals figures on Friday follow:

London silver closed to $14.01 an ounce, falling 97 cents from last Friday’s close. New York silver futures for September delivery ended at $14.164.

London Gold was fixed at $952.50 an ounce, a $1.10 decline on the week. New York Gold for December delivery finished at $954.70.

London platinum declined to $1,239.00 an ounce, a $28.00 loss for the week. New York platinum for October delivery closed at $1,259.20.

"Following the US dollar’s slippage to its 2009 low against the Swiss franc and crude oil’s rise to its own 2009 peak in dollars-per-barrel terms, gold players took off to the races and propelled the yellow metal to very near $960 per ounce during the morning hours," wrote Jon Nadler, Sr. analyst at Kitco Metals Inc.

"Also seen helping matters today was the jolt offered by better-than-expected existing US home sales data. This new signal corroborating the recovery that is thought to be underway in the US, added fuel to the fire in the crude oil pits, poured more cold water on the greenback, and ultimately also helped gold too."

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
(Aug 14-21)

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*

Weekly world business news; oil, gasoline, and stocks prices

Oil rose Friday "buoyed by weakness in the dollar and by positive U.S. and European economic data," Polya Lesova wrote at MarketWatch.

"The economic recovery is going to spur further upward movement in prices," John Kilduff, senior vice president of energy at MF Global in New York, was quoted on Bloomberg. "There’s a lot of inherent strength in this market. It’s becoming clear that the recovery is for real and energy demand is going to pick up."

New York crude-oil for October delivery jumped 98 cents, or 1.3 percent, to close at $73.89 a barrel. For the week, oil surged 6.1 percent.

The national average for unleaded gasoline on Saturday gained one-tenth of a cent to $2.626 a gallon, according to a AAA fuel report. The price is 1.9 cents lower than a week ago, 16.1 cents more than a month back, and $1.07 lower than a year ago.

U.S. stocks surged Friday "with the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P 500 all ending at fresh 2009 highs, after Fed chief Ben Bernanke said the economy is near a recovery and existing home sales posted their biggest jump in two years," wrote Alexandra Twin at CNNMoney.

"European and U.S. investors appear to be encouraged by each new piece of incrementally positive economic news. On Friday that was an increase in existing home sales," Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson, was quoted on MarketWatch. "While (home) sales are still very weak, now they are starting to show consecutive improvement."

For the week, the Dow rose 2 percent, the S&P jumped 2.2 percent and the Nasdaq gained 1.8 percent.

Friday figures for the three major US indexes follow:

• The Dow advanced 155.91 points to close at 9,505.96.

• The S&P rose 18.76 points, closing to 1,026.13.

• The NASDAQ gained 31.38 points to finish at 2,020.90.

And in other world markets:

• The German DAX rose 151.68 points to close at 5,462.74.

• The Paris CAC 40 gained 110.49 points to close at 3,615.81.

• And the London FTSE 100 advanced 94.31 points to close at 4,756.58.

Bullion articles of interest

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

• Copper jumps 5% on Europe, U.S. data; gold gains – MarketWatch
  Copper rallied 5% Friday, posting its biggest gain in at least a week and headlining a broad metals advance as European and U.S. economic data supported expectations for increased industrial demand…

• Gold Jumps as Dollar Drops, Crude Oil Climbs; Silver Advances – Bloomberg
  Gold jumped the most this month as the dollar fell, increasing the metal’s appeal as an alternative investment. Silver also gained. The dollar dropped as much as 0.8 percent against the euro as German services and French manufacturing unexpectedly…

• For (No Longer) Richer Or (Much) Poorer – Jon Nadler, Kitco
  This week’s dual theme – China and oil- continued to still exert the primary influence on the precious metals complex during the overnight hours. As crude values approached $74 per barrel, the dollar lost more on the trade-weighted index, sinking to $77.95 ahead of the NY open…

• Gold Eagles Top 801K, Silver Eagles Over 17.7M – CoinNews
  Since many coin collectors spend their time outside of the hobby during the summer months, US Mint weekly sales can tend to be routine and borderline boring. That is not the case with the latest round of coin figures. Highlights follow…

• Julia Tyler Sales Rise 35% – First Spouse Coins
  The First Spouse Coin news of the week is the sell out of Jackson’s Liberty proof coin. The US Mint unexpectedly placed the gold piece in its “sold out” category, although the uncirculated option is still available to buy. Most who follow the series were expecting the US Mint to stop selling both coins on the morning of Sept. 3, which…

• Silver Eagles Rise 475K, Silver Proof Sets Gain 17.3K – Silver Coins Today
  It was another strong week for at least two US mint silver coin products. American Silver Eagles shined and the 18-coin Silver Proof Set commanded coin collector’s attention. In another huge weekly leap, Bullion American Silver Eagles jumped 475,000. That follows…

• Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Sales – CoinNews
  2009 Ultra High Relief (UHR) Double Eagle Gold coins have topped a new milestone and demand is stronger than ever in the month of August. New United States Mint sales figures reveal several thousand of the 24-karat gold coins have been sold during the last few days alone. And since the US Mint began offering them on January 22, 2009, a total of 80,700 have been sold…

• Jackson’s Liberty First Spouse Coin Sold Out – CoinNews
  The US Mint has added Jackson’s Liberty First Spouse Gold Proof Coin to its sold out list, in a move that will shock collectors of the $10, one-half ounce 24-karat gold coin series. With the exception of sell outs due to mintage limits met, past First Spouse Coins have been available from the US Mint for a year or until replaced by a following year release…

Bullion and finance related collector tools

• US Mint Coin Prices
• Live Gold Spots
• Silver Coins Values
• World Currency Converter
• US Inflation