Gold Falls Slightly on Week, Silver Logs New 16-Week Low

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Partial Photo of Bullion Gold
Aside from palladium, which scored a 16-year high on Tuesday, precious metals declined on the week

Precious metals futures ended mixed Friday and on the week. Gold advanced after hitting a more than one-week low on Thursday. Silver, however, registered its lowest close since early August.

Gold for February delivery climbed $5.60, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,282.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The Flynn news "caused a sharp rise in risk aversion with stocks and the dollar going down, boosting the appeal of safe-haven gold," Reuters quoted Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com.

Former U.S. national security advisor Michael Flynn pleaded guilty on Friday to lying to the FBI.

Gold futures slipped 0.4% this week after sliding 0.7% last week. On Thursday, the precious metal ended at its lowest price since Nov. 20 but still closed up 0.5% for the month of November. Prices are 11.3% higher so far this year.

In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street survey:

"A total of 19 market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. Eleven, or 58%, called for gold to fall. There were four votes each, or 21%, calling for gold to either rise or trade mostly sideways.

Meanwhile, 619 votes were cast in an online Main Street poll. A total of 287 voters, or 46%, looked for gold to rise in the next week. Another 238, or 38%, said lower, while 94, or 15%, were neutral."

Ending lower for a third straight session, silver for March delivery declined 8.6 cents, or 0.5%, to finish at $16.388 an ounce. The settlement is the weakest since Aug. 7 when prices ended at $16.251 an ounce.

Silver futures sank 3.6% this week after falling 2.2% last week. They notched three straight weekly gains before then, rising for a combined 3.7%. Prices now, however, are just 2.5% higher on the year to date.

In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:

  • January platinum shed $1.90, or 0.2%, to $940.60 an ounce, for a 0.5% weekly loss.

  • Palladium for March delivery advanced $12.70, or 1.3%, to $1,016.25 an ounce, for a 2.3% weekly gain. On Tuesday, the metal ended at a more than 16-year high.

The pair are higher for the year so far with advances of 3.9% for platinum and 48.7% for palladium.

London Precious Metals Prices

London precious metals prices ended mixed Friday and on the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:

  • Gold declined $4.70, or 0.4%, to 1,275.50 an ounce.
  • Silver lost 15 cents, or 0.9%, to $16.42 an ounce.
  • Platinum fell $6, or 0.6%, to $934 an ounce.
  • Palladium rose $6, or 0.6%, to $1,016 an ounce.

For the week in London bullion prices, gold shed 1.2%, silver sank 3.7%, platinum dipped 0.1%, and palladium advanced 1.5%.

US Mint Bullion Sales in 2017

United States Mint bullion sales quickened a bit from a week ago. In headline comparisons:

  • Gold coins climbed by 5,000 ounces this week after rising by 2,000 ounces last week. Last week, gold sales came entirely from the 1-ounce American Gold Eagle. This week, splits included 1,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos and a combined 4,000 ounces in three different-sized American Gold Eagles.

  • Silver coins advanced by 90,000 ounces this week after rising by 37,500 ounces last week. All sales this week came from American Silver Eagles, Last week, splits included 30,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles and 7,500 ounces in George Rogers Clark 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins.

Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods. Products with an asterisk (*) are no longer available.

US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins)
Friday Last Week This Week October November YTD
$100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin 0 0 0 0 0 20,000
$25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* 0 0 0 0 0 15,000
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin 0 2,000 2,500 11,000 9,500 190,500
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 2,000 2,000 2,000 34,000
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 2,000 2,000 2,000 60,000
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 0 30,000 10,000 370,000
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 1,000 7,000 2,000 85,500
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin 0 30,000 90,000 1,040,000 385,000 17,323,500
2017 Effigy Mounds 5 Oz Silver Coin 0 0 0 0 0 35,000
2017 Frederick Douglass 5 Oz Silver Coin 0 0 0 0 0 20,000
2017 Ozark Riverways 5 Oz Silver Coin 0 0 0 0 0 20,000
2017 Ellis Island 5 Oz Silver Coin* 0 0 0 0 0 40,000
2017 George Rogers Clark 5 Oz Silver Coin 0 1,500 0 N/A 32,400 32,400
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