Gold and other precious metals fell Friday, increasing weekly losses that amounted to 1.6% for gold, 2.5% for silver, 0.2% for platinum and 0.7% for palladium.
Gold prices for August delivery declined $30.50, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,578.90 an ounce on the Comex in New York. The yellow metal ranged from an intraday low of $1,576.40 to a high of $1,610.60. Losses in gold were attributed to a stronger U.S. dollar.
"It looks as though gold is just reacting to the dollar trade and weaker prices across the board, and commodities may be creeping in deflationary scares, which are weakening gold," Reuters quoted Carlos Perez-Santalla, precious metals broker at PVM Futures.
Gold’s direction next week may be pressured further by strength in the greenback, some analysts expect.
"The majority of the traders and analysts who took part in the weekly Kitco Gold survey look for the yellow metal to trade lower next week," reports Kitco News.
In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 34 participants, 20 responded this week. Of these, 11 participants see prices down, while 7 see prices up and 2 see prices sideways or unchanged…
One of the most-cited reasons for more near-term weakness was expectations for continued gains in the U.S. dollar, although some also cited the technical-chart picture."
On the other hand, Bloomberg’s weekly survey reflects a very bullish attitude toward gold prices next week. Eighteen participants expect higher prices with 6 bearish. Three were neutral.
Silver, Platinum and Palladium Futures
In other New York precious metals futures on Friday:
-
Silver prices for September delivery fell 75.2 cents, or 2.7%, to $26.920 an ounce. The white metal traded between $26.905 and $27.795.
-
Platinum prices for October delivery lost $28.20, or 1.9%, to $1,449.50 an ounce, ranging from $1,440.80 to $1,479.30
- Palladium prices for September delivery declined $5.40, or 0.9%, to $580.35 an ounce, trading between $574.35 and $589.00.
London Precious Metals
Precious metals in London declined as well. When comparing the latest London PM fixings:
- Gold lost $17.00, or 1.1%, to $1,587.00 an ounce,
- Silver plummeted $1.01, or 3.6%, to $27.32 an ounce,
- Platinum was off $18.00, or 1.2%, to $1,450.00 an ounce, and
- Palladium stepped back $11.00, or 1.9%, to $577.00 an ounce
For the week, gold fell 0.7% and palladium edged down 0.2% while silver advanced 0.9% and platinum gained 1.5%.
U.S. Mint Bullion Coin Sales
Demand weakened this week for U.S. Mint bullion coins. No doubt the Fourth of July mid-week holiday break played a partial roll in declines, coupled with thinner precious metals trading on the days surrounding it. For the week, sales included:
-
7,000 troy ounces of gold bullion coins, which was half of last week’s total. Weekly gold coin sales included 6,500 ounces of 22-karat American Gold Eagles and 500 ounces of 24-karat American Gold Buffalo coins.
- 375,000 troy ounces of silver bullion coins as compared to the prior week’s 535,000 ounces. Weekly silver coin sales included 369,500 Silver Eagles and 1,100 America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Coins.
The following are the latest daily, July and year-to-date bullion coin sales totals as published by the U.S. Mint.
| US Mint American Eagle and Buffalo Bullion Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Gains | Prior Weekly | Weekly/July Gains | YTD 2012 | |
| $50 American Eagle Gold Coin | 1,000 | 9,500 | 6,000 | 291,000 |
| $25 American Eagle Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 56,000 |
| $10 American Eagle Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 2,000 | 54,000 |
| $5 American Eagle Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 0 | 175,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 500 | 75,500 |
| American Eagle Silver Coin | 100,000 | 518,000 | 369,500 | 17,761,500 |
| America the Beautiful 5 Oz. Bullion Silver Coin Sales | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daily Gains | Prior Weekly | Weekly/July Gains | All-Time Total | |
| 2012 El Yunque National Forest 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 200 | 100 | 10,000 |
| 2012 Chaco Culture National Historical Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 1,000 | 3,200 | 1,000 | 4,200 |
| 2011 Olympic National Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85,200 |
| 2011 Vicksburg National Military Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38,600 |
| 2011 Chickasaw Park 5 oz. Silver Bullion Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 28,900 |
| TOTAL | 1,000 | 3,400 | 1,100 | 166,900 |
U.S. Mint bullion coin sales numbers in the above tables are in coin totals, not the amount of ounces sold. For a recap on how U.S. Mint bullion products performed during the last several months, read the CoinNews.net article about US Gold and Silver Coin Sales in 2012.
