Gold, silver and platinum retreated on Friday, paring their gains on the week. Palladium also declined on Friday, barely, standing by itself with a weekly loss.
Gold for December delivery declined $16.40, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,947.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The precious metal remains supported by low-to-negative government bond yields, rising coronavirus cases in the United States and a tired U.S. dollar," MarketWatch quoted Lukman Otunuga, senior research analyst at FXTM. "On top of this, the Federal Reserve’s policy shift to let inflation rip may provide gold with a tailwind as interest rates remain lower for an extended period."
Gold futures rose 0.7% this week following two straight weekly losses. They are 27.9% higher on the year to date. In looking ahead to next week, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street & Main Street surveys:
"This week, 15 Wall Street professionals took part in the latest Kitco survey. Among the participants, five voters, or 36%, called for gold prices to rise; three analysts, or 21%, said they expect to see lower prices and six voters, or 43% were neutral on the precious metal…
A total of 1,359 votes were cast in an online Main Street poll. Of these, 926 respondents, or 68%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 205, or 15%, said lower, while 228 voters, or 17%, were neutral."
Silver for December delivery dropped 43.4 cents, or 1.6%, to settle at $26.857 an ounce. Silver prices rose 0.5% this week after falling 3.9% last week. They are up 49.9% on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
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October platinum shed $1.40, or 0.2%, to end at $939.60 an ounce, but logged a sharp weekly increase of 4.6%.
- Palladium for December delivery edged down 10 cents to $2,330.80 an ounce, for a loss on the week of 0.5%.
The two are divided on the year so far with platinum 3.9% lower and palladium 22.1% higher.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
London precious metals prices ended lower on Friday and higher on the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold fell $18.85, or 1%, to $1,947.40 an ounce.
- Silver lost 23 cents, or 0.9%, to $26.875 an ounce.
- Platinum shed $1, or 0.1%, to $929 an ounce.
- Palladium declined $10, or 0.4%, to $2,301 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results, gains reached 1.1% for gold, 0.2% for silver, 2.9% for platinum and 0.5% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2020
The United States Mint published no bullion sales gains in the prior two weeks. The Mint this week posted total sales of:
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3,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles,
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1 million ounces in American Silver Eagles, and
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500 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
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 | July | August | This Week / Sept. | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 107,500 | 104,000** | 1,500 | 540,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 10,000** | 1,000 | 56,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 20,000** | 2,000 | 86,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 35,000 | 70,000** | 10,000 | 290,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 28,000** | 500 | 184,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,084,500 | 4,477,000** | 1,000,000 | 19,178,000 |
| America Samoa 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Weir Farm 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Salt River Bay 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Marsh Billings 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 45,000 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,500 |
**On Wednesday, the U.S. Mint published adjusted August sales of American Buffalo coins to 28,000 from 22,500; changed August sales of American Silver Eagles to 4,477,000 from 2,593,000; and modified August sales of American Gold Eagles with the 1-ounce size to 104,000 from 86,000; the 1/2-ounce size to 10,000 from 6,000; the 1/4-ounce size to 20,000 from 12,000; and the 1/10-ounce size to 70,000 from 30,000.
