Most precious metals futures moved higher on Friday and they all gained on the week. In milestones, silver ended near a five-month high, gold closed just above a seven-year high, and palladium ended at another record.
Gold for April delivery on Friday rose $28.30, or 1.8%, to settle at $1,648.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Feb. 12, 2013 when gold finished at $1,649.60 an ounce.
"Markets are once again anxious because the coronavirus outbreak is possibly spreading outside China. There is huge amount of safe-haven demand as economic slowdown in China, Japan and Germany is expected to persist in the first half of the year," Reuters quoted Edward Moya, a senior market analyst at broker OANDA.
Gold futures traded 3.9% higher this week following their 0.8% increase last week. They are up 8.3% on the year to date.
In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"Fifteen market professionals took part in the Wall Street survey. Fourteen, or 93%, called for gold to rise. Only one voter, or 7%, called for prices to fall, while nobody was neutral.
Meanwhile, 1,121 votes were cast in an online Main Street poll. A total of 820 voters, or 73%, looked for gold to rise in the next week. Another 192, or 17%, said lower, while 109, or 10%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery tacked on 21.1 cents, or 1.2%, to settle at $18.53 an ounce. The finish was the highest since Sept. 24 when silver closed at $18.628 an ounce. Silver futures traded 4.5% higher this week after rising 0.2% last week. They are 3.4% higher on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
April platinum shed $2.90, or 0.3%, to $976.10 an ounce, but logged a 0.8% weekly gain.
- Palladium for March delivery jumped $31.50, or 1.2%, to a record settlement of $2,605.40 an ounce. Palladium posted a 12.5% increase on the week.
For the year so far, platinum is 0.2% lower while palladium is 36.5% higher.
London Precious Metals Prices
London precious metals prices divided on Friday and increased as a group for the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold rose $24.30, or 1.5%, to $1,643.30 an ounce.
- Silver added 17.5 cents, or 1%, to $18.56 an ounce.
- Platinum declined $10, or 1%, to $976 an ounce.
- Palladium dropped $18, or 0.7%, to $2,690 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results, gains reached 3.9% for gold, 4.8% for silver, 0.4% for platinum, and 9.4% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
United States Mint bullion sales remain unreported for the week and month according to available figures from the Mint’s website. Below is a sales breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products with columns listing the number of coins sold during varying periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| This Week / February | November | December | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 2,000 | 38,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 23,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 18,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 60,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 1,500 | 21,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 3,846,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 463,000 | 0 | 14,500 |
