Gold and Silver Prices Slide for First Time in Six Weeks

Gold and silver prices declined on Friday, cementing their first losing week in six as the U.S. dollar posted its first weekly increase in the same timeframe. Platinum fell as well, but palladium edged higher and will shoot for seven consecutive weekly gains before the end of October.

In other weekly action, crude oil fell for a second straight while U.S. stocks, albeit modestly, climbed to make it three in a row. The major indexes rose between 0.3 and 0.7 percent.

Returning to U.S. bullion prices, gold futures for December delivery dipped 50 cents to $1,325.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. For the week gold fell $46.90, or 3.4 percent, after rising 2 percent last week.

"Gold prices could still rally if insufficient QE measures simply introduced new downside risks to U.S. growth," analysts at Deutsche Bank AG said in a report relayed on Bloomberg. "In the event of a more generous package of QE measures, this would encourage a more- rapid depreciation of the dollar and hence gold-price strength."

December silver slipped 2.1 cents, or 0.1 percent, to settle at $23.118 an ounce — its lowest closing since October 8. For the week silver was the worst performer of the precious metals after having beaten gold for five straight. The metal plummeted 4.8 percent, or $1.17, erasing it previous weekly gain of 4.7 percent. As a result, the latest silver-to-gold ratio climbed since last Friday, up 57.32 from 56.49. The ratio was brushing near 66 in June.

Platinum for January delivery rose $1.70, or 0.1 percent, to settle Friday at $1,675.10. Prices fell for a second week, however, down $20.30 or 1.2 percent.

As mentioned, palladium was the single precious metals gainer in New York, rising $4.80, or 0.8 percent, to settle at $591.10 an ounce — up $1.90 from last week.

In London bullion weekly prices, the gold Fix was $1,322.50 an ounce for a loss of $45.00 or 3.3 percent.

"The emerging feeling among traders ahead of the end of this trading week points to somewhat of a ‘calming down’ and a sense of the markets having already factored in a November easing by the Fed," Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, Inc., wrote Friday morning.

"Also on display however, is an attitude that reflects a lack of certainty as to how much (or little) the Fed will offer, and what the timetable might look like, not to mention the still-open debate as to whether any such action will have any visible effects. Fuzzy as she goes; ’tis the new ‘normal.’ That, and the added volatility we will have to contend with before that ‘epic’ first week of November, coming soon, to a market theatre near you."

London silver was fixed to $23.05, down $1.37 or 5.6 percent. In platinum group metals, platinum was $1,673.00 for a loss of $18.00, or 1.1 percent, while palladium was $586.00 for a loss of $5.00, or 0.8 percent.

7-Day United States Mint Bullion Coin Sales

Demand for United States Mint bullion coins remained strong. One ounce Gold Eagles improved, posting a weekly increase of 20,500 versus the previous 7-day pick up of 19,000. Silver Eagles moved a bit slower. They advanced 725,000 against 875,000. However, their sales in October — with still a week left in the month — have already surpassed the 1.88 million sold in September and are 101,000 away from toping August.

For always up-to-date figures, visit the CoinNews.net page listing all current bullion coin sales.

To follow are silver, gold, platinum and palladium performance charts, oil news, week-ending stocks, and precious metal article summaries.

London Fix Charts: Silver, Gold, Platinum and Palladium

(October 15-22)

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).

30-Day London Fix Precious Metals Prices

Business News: Oil, Gasoline, and Stock Prices

Crude oil prices finished higher Friday. Cited reasons included the threat of Tropical Storm Richard pushing toward Mexican oil fields in the Yucatan Peninsula, and speculation of increased demand due to French strikes.

"The French refinery strike is getting more attention, and there’s a growing realization that U.S. supplies will have to fill some of the void," Phil Flynn, vice president of research at PFGBest in Chicago, was quoted on Bloomberg. "We also are keeping an eye on Richard, because there’s no way to know how it will develop over the weekend."

U.S. crude oil for December delivery advanced $1.13, or 1.4 percent, to close at $81.69 a barrel. For the week oil retreated 24 cents, or 0.3 percent, after falling $1.41, or 1.71 percent, last week.

Prices at the pump declined six-tenths of a cent between Friday and Saturday. The national average for regular unleaded gasoline is $2.821 a gallon, according to the daily AAA fuel report. The price is 1.3 cents lower than last week, 10.6 cents more than the price from a month back, and 18.5 cents higher than a year ago.

U.S. stocks were mixed for a second straight Friday with improved corporate earnings attributed to the modest gains in the Dow and S&P.

"To get decent earnings after a nice little rally in the market and have the market sustain the gains or even achieve a little more is a really good thing and bodes well," Robert Stimpson, a fund manager at Oak Associates in Akron, Ohio, said and was quoted on Reuters.

Friday closing figures for the three major U.S. indexes follow:

• The Dow declined 14.01 points, or 0.13 percent, to 11,132.56.

• The S&P rose 2.82 points, or 0.24 percent, to close at 1,183.08.

• The NASDAQ gained 19.72 points, or 0.80 percent, to 2,479.39.

For the week the Dow added 0.63 percent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.59 percent, and the Nasdaq rose 0.43 percent.

And in other world markets on Friday:

• The German DAX fell 5.17 points to 6,605.84.

• The Paris CAC 40 lost 9.73 points to settle at 3,868.54.

• The London FTSE 100 declined 16.49 points to 5,741.37.

For the week, the DAX rose 1.75 percent, the CAC 40 added 1.08 percent and the FTSE 100 edged up 0.67 percent.

U.S. Week Ahead Business Video by Reuters

Hot items to look out for next week include Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech on Monday, more corporate earnings reports — to include big oil companies and Microsoft, and third quarter GDP data on Friday. These topics and more are covered in the following Reuters’ "The week ahead" business video:

Bullion and Economic Articles

In related bullion coin news, quick-read articles from the week included:

• US Mint Sales: Gold and Silver Coins Slow
  Coins left U.S. Mint inventories slower. Only a handful of products peaked over their previous weekly gains, according to the latest coin sales figures from the United States Mint …

• Gold Coin Buying Advice and Scam Victim Resources
  What do you do when a gold seller fails to deliver or the merchandise you received was not as described when you ordered it? Who can you contact for help when you don’t receive payment for gold you’ve submitted to sell? …