Gold Slips 0.5% on Week; Silver Extends Weekly Wins to Three

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closeup of gold bullion
Gold futures shed 0.5% this week

Most precious metals futures closed lower Friday but still gained on the week. Gold was the exception for both periods. Its weekly loss was the first in three weeks.

Gold for August delivery on Friday rose $4.60, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,419.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Gold futures traded 0.5% lower this week after rising 1% last week. They are 10.8% higher on the year to date. As recently as a week ago Thursday, July 18, the yellow metal ended at $1,428.10 an ounce for its highest close since May 13, 2013.

"The market will now focus its attention on next week’s Fed meeting … if Fed Chair Powell indicates that a rate cut cycle is imminent, the dollar is likely to depreciate, which should in turn benefit gold," Commerzbank said in a note according to Reuters.

In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:

"Sixteen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. A total of eight voters, or 50%, called for gold to be higher. There were three votes, or 19%, for lower, while five respondents, or 31%, look for the metal to be sideways or were neutral.

Meanwhile, 953 respondents took part in an online Main Street poll. A total of 580 voters, or 61%, called for gold to rise. Another 223, or 23%, predicted gold would fall. The remaining 150 voters, or 16%, saw a sideways market."

Elsewhere, silver for September delivery dipped 1.4 cents, or 0.09%, to settle at $16.397 an ounce.

Scoring their third straight weekly increase, silver futures traded 1.3% higher this week after gains of 6.3% last week and 1.6% in the week before then. On Wednesday, they ended at $16.626 an ounce for their best close since June 14, 2018. Silver is 5.5% higher on the year.

In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:

  • October platinum declined $6.20, or 0.7%, to finish at $867.80 an ounce, but advanced on the week by 1.8%.

  • Palladium for September fell $2.90, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,531 an ounce, yet logged a 1.5% weekly increase.

Both are higher on the year so far with gains of 8.4% for platinum and 27.9% for palladium.

London Precious Metals Prices

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

  • Gold rose $4.30, or 0.3%, to $1,420.40 an ounce.
  • Silver declined 9.5 cents, or 0.6%, to $16.44 an ounce.
  • Platinum fell $8, or 0.9%, to $865 an ounce.
  • Palladium was unchanged at $1,528 an ounce.

In LBMA weekly results, gold declined 1.3% and palladium dipped 0.4% while silver rose 0.8% and platinum added 1.3%.

US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales

United States Mint bullion sales divided compared to last week with sales higher for silver coins and lower for gold coins. In week-over-week comparisons:

  • Gold bullion coins climbed by 1,000 ounces after rising by 2,000 ounces previously. Sales this week came entirely from American Gold Eagles. Last week splits included 1,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 500 ounces in American Gold Buffalo coins.

  • American Silver Eagle advanced by 147,000 compared to their increase last week of 75,000.

Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint 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 June July 2019 Sales
$50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin 0 500 500 4,500 1,000 79,500
$25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin 0 1,000 0 0 2,000 21,000
$10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin 0 0 0 0 2,000 28,000
$5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin 0 5,000 5,000 5,000 15,000 160,000
$50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin 0 500 0 3,000 500 48,000
$1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin 147,000 75,000 147,000 1,035,000 484,000 10,506,000
American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin 0 0 0 0 0 78,000
Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* N/A 80,000
$100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* N/A 40,000

 

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