Bullion & Business Weekend Report – Dec. 5

Commodities plunged on Friday as the US dollar firmed following a Labor Department report showing that employers cut fewer jobs last month. The unemployment rate fell to 10 percent from the prior 10.2 percent reading. Precious metals retreated in London earlier in the day, but the employment news brought New York gold, silver and platinum prices sharply lower.

While the government report helped crude prices early by raising hopes of an economic recovery, the greenback’s subsequent climb to register its biggest gain since 1999 was enough to drive oil lower. However, the employment news spurred US stocks. Major indexes finished up Friday and mustered in weekly gains. European stocks ended the week higher as well.

In getting back to bullion and London weekly prices, gold rose 2.0 percent, silver jumped 6.1 percent and platinum advanced 3.4 percent.

In New York bullion prices, gold fell 0.4 percent, silver finished 1.2 percent higher and platinum climbed 0.2 percent.

Friday and weekly dollar figures follow:

London gold was fixed at $1,190.25 an ounce, rising $23.75 this week. New York gold for February delivery finished at $1,169.50 for a five-day front contract loss of $4.70.

London silver closed to $18.83 an ounce, advancing $1.09 from last Friday’s close. New York silver futures for March delivery ended at $18.520, posting a weekly front contract gain of 21.8 cents.

London platinum ended at $1,472.00 an ounce, jumping $48.00 since last Friday’s close. New York platinum for January delivery closed to $1,449.70, advancing $2.60 on the week for the front contract.

Notable bullion quotes follow:

"So many people have piled into gold, so this pop in the dollar is freaking people out," Matt Zeman, a metals trader at LaSalle Futures Group Inc. in Chicago, said on Bloomberg. "The dollar is rocking and gold is getting its teeth kicked in."

"We’ve had a big move in a short period of time and it was clearly overbought. It was susceptible to a pullback. I don’t think this is a surprise," Caesar Bryan, who manages the $650 million New York-based GAMCO Gold Fund, said on Reuters.

"The pullback is related to the dollar reaction to the jobs data," James Steel, gold analyst at HSBC in New York, was quoted on MarketWatch.

"A Reuters survey of traders found that more than half of them expect the year-end tally to find gold at under $1200 per ounce. As for 2010, the most optimistic of crystal ball images finds the metal peaking around $1300-$1350, (UBS, Goldman) with little or no justification for higher levels," wrote Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, Inc. "Of course, there are those who also question a Goldman forecast for such levels, issued just when gold notched a fresh $1225 record to the day."

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 27 – Dec 4)

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 Prices

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

Crude oil prices dropped "as a strongly rebounding U.S. dollar weighed on commodities prices and offset an upbeat jobs report that raised hopes of an economic recovery," reported Moming Zhou and Polya Lesova of MarketWatch.com.

"The jobs report is encouraging and points to improving demand, "Rick Mueller, a director of oil markets at Energy Security Analysis Inc. in Wakefield, Massachusetts, said on Bloomberg. "Ordinarily, evidence of a stronger economy would be bullish for oil, but… The strength of the dollar has hedge funds selling commodities."

New York crude oil for January delivery fell 99 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $75.47 a barrel. For the week, oil ended down 58 cents, or 0.8 percent.

Prices at the pump rose slightly — one tenth of a cent — from Friday to Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline was $2.638 a gallon, according to a AAA fuel report. The price is 1.1 cents higher than last week, 4.4 cents lower than a month back, and 86.5 cents up from a year ago.

U.S. stocks climbed higher Friday "as investors redoubled their efforts after an afternoon selloff, following a better-than-expected November jobs report," wrote Alexandra Twin of CNNMoney.com.

For the week, the Dow gained 0.8 percent, the S&P rose 1.3 percent, and the Nasdaq climbed 2.6 percent.

Friday figures for the three major US indexes follow:

• The Dow rose 22.75 points to close at 10,388.90.

• The S&P increased 6.06 points, closing at 1,105.98.

• The NASDAQ climbed 21.21 points to finish at 2,194.35.

And in other world markets:

• The German DAX jumped 47.30 points to close at 5,817.65.

• The Paris CAC 40 advanced 47.51 points, to close at 3,846.62.

• And the London FTSE 100 gained 9.36 points to finish at 5,322.36.

Bullion and Business Articles

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

• Gold tumbles as dollar surges after positive data – MarketWatch
  Gold futures tumbled 4% Friday, sustaining their first major loss in a run that began early in November, as the U.S. dollar rose sharply after an upbeat U.S. jobs report. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold for December delivery fell $48.60 to end at $1,168.80 an ounce. Friday’s losses erased gold’s weekly gain …

• Gold Falls Most in a Year as Dollar Rally Spurs Investor Sales – Bloomberg
  Gold dropped the most in a year as a rising dollar prompted some investors to sell bullion on the heels of a rally to an all-time high. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s value, rose as much as 1.7 percent after a government report showed U.S. employers cut fewer jobs last month than forecast. Gold futures fell as much as 6.5 percent from a record of …

• Benny Poppin(g)s – Jon Nadler, Kitco
  Friday’s opening had gold prices slipping towards the $1200 mark on light profit-taking, and  ahead of afternoon book-squaring activities. Spot bullion opened with a $2.80 loss, quoted at $1204.70 on the bid, as against a 74.63 reading on the US dollar index and a 1.506 tick vis a vis the euro. Crude oil fell by about half a dollar, and was last seen at $75.88 per barrel. Silver and …

• Gold Shines, Uncirculated Mint Sets Hit 600,000 – CoinNews
  The newest US Mint sales report is reminiscent of last week’s, with few notables outside of bullion coins. Collectors were more stingy in their spending, or perhaps they simply stepped away from the buying table during the Thanksgiving holiday week. In a change from the prior report that showed most US Mint coin sets had better than normal gains, only three stood out in this round — the 2009 DC & US Territories Quarters Set, the …

• US Mint to Resume Selling 2009 Silver Eagle Coins – Silver Coins Today
  The United States Mint on Friday said it would again offer 2009 Silver Eagle Bullion Coins. The silver coins were halted last week as a result of enormous demand which depleted the US Mint’s inventory. “On Monday, December 7, 2009, the United States Mint will resume taking orders for 2009-dated American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins,” said U.S. Mint Director of Public Affairs Tom Jurkowsky. …

• 2009 Buffalo Gold Coins Sold Out – CoinCollectingNews.org
  US gold bullion coins continue to be hot. So hot that two sell-outs occurred today with two more likely on the way within days, if not hours. According to the US Mint, the inventory for the 2009 American Gold Buffalo Bullion Coins has been depleted and no more will be struck for the year …

• 2009 Gold Eagles Inventory Runs Out – CoinNews
  The US Mint ran out of one ounce 2009 American Gold Eagle coins last week which caused their temporary suspension, and now the fractional sizes that were just launched are either gone or being allocated following record one-day sales. The demand for American Eagle coins is straining inventory, forcing the US Mint to send out another notice to its customers …