Precious metals prices climbed Friday, padding their weekly gains. Silver drove its weekly win streak to four straight, ending the day at a more than fourteen-week high. Gold, meanwhile, lifted its consecutive session increases to eight in a row, closing Friday at a four-month high.
Gold for February delivery on Friday settled up $24.30, or 1.6%, to $1,552.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since gold prices ended at $1,560.40 an ounce on Sept. 4.
"With the U.S. air strikes overnight in Iraq from orders of President Trump and Iran’s leader vowed revenge as a result, the equity markets are down and safe-havens are higher, causing a move higher in the precious metals," Reuters quoted David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
Gold futures traded 2.3% higher this week after rising 2.5% last week. In looking further down the road, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their 2020 gold outlook survey:
"A total of 1,749 people participated in Kitco News’s outlook survey and 80% of participants said they see gold prices ending the year at least above $1,600 an ounce.
One-quarter, or 439 Main Street participants, were extremely bullish on gold, saying that they expect the yellow metal to push above $2,000 an ounce by this time next year.
On the down side, less than 9% of voters, or 152 participants saw gold prices ending the year below current prices. Less than 1% forecasted gold prices to fall below $1,000 an ounce."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery rose 10.5 cents, or 0.6%, to settle at $18.151 an ounce. The close was the strongest since silver prices finished at $18.628 ounce on Sept. 24. Silver futures gained 1.2% this week. They have rallied a combined $1.555, or 9.4%, in their four straight weekly wins.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
April platinum added $5.30, or 0.5%, to finish at $990.30 an ounce, for a 3.5% weekly gain.
- Palladium for March delivery added $27.70, or 1.4%, to $1,955.70 an ounce, posting a 4% weekly increase.
London Precious Metals Prices
London gold and silver also gained on Friday and for the week. In comparing their latest day-over-day PM prices:
- Gold added $21.65, or 1.4%, to $1,548.75 an ounce.
- Silver rose 28.5 cents, or 1.6%, to $18.210 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results, the increases reached 2.5% for gold and 2.2% for silver.
US Mint 2019 Bullion Sales
United States Mint bullion sales were flat for a second straight week according to data from the agency’s website. 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 / This Week | Last Week | November | December | 2019 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 108,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin* | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 30,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 38,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 195,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 1,500 | 61,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 14,863,500 |
| Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 5,000 | 25,000 |
| San Antonio Missions 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,200 |
| War in the Pacific 5 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 72,500 |
| American Memorial Park 5 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
| Lowell 5 Oz Silver Coin* | N/A | 80,000 | |||
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | N/A | 40,000 | |||
