Precious metals sank Friday, resulting in heavy weekly losses for gold, silver and palladium. Platinum also dropped on the week, but modestly. Gold and silver, just days after scoring multi-month highs, ended Friday at their lowest levels in more than three weeks.
Gold for February delivery tumbled $78.20, or 4.1%, to settle at $1,835.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The close was gold’s weakest since Dec. 14.
"Gold is having a major fundamental shift for many investors and they’re starting to abandon their safe haven trade for gold," Reuters quoted Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OANDA.
"You’re probably going to see that the Treasury market sees some strong flows and that’s taking away some of the appeal from gold."
Gold futures traded 3.2% lower this week after rising 0.6% last week to mark a more than 24% increase in 2020. On Tuesday, they closed at $1,954.40 an ounce for their best settlement since Sept. 18.
Silver for March delivery dropped $2.62, or 9.6%, to end at $24.637 an ounce. Like for gold, silver’s settlement was the lowest since Dec. 14. Silver futures declined 6.7% this week after advancing 2% last week for a 47.4% increase in 2020. On Tuesday, they finished at $27.64 an ounce for their best close since Sept. 1.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
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April platinum shed $53.30, or 4.7%, to $1,071.30 an ounce, for a weekly decline of 0.7%.
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Palladium for March delivery fell $66.60, or 2.7%, to $2,365 an ounce, for a loss on the week of 3.6%.
London Precious Metals Prices (LBMA)
London precious metals prices ended down on Friday and for the week. In comparing their levels from Thursday PM to Friday PM:
- Gold declined $57.20, or 3%, to $1,862.90 an ounce.
- Silver fell 48.5 cents, or 1.8%, to $26.645 an ounce.
- Platinum added $7, or 0.7%, to $1,075 an ounce.
- Palladium rose $28, or 1.2%, to $2,370 an ounce.
In LBMA weekly results, losses registered at 1% for gold, 2.7% for silver, 5.3% for platinum and 1.8% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
Last week, United States Mint bullion sales were limited to 2,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles. Gains this week included:
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63,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles.
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2.8 million ounces in American Silver Eagles.
- 20,500 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 | This Week / 2021 | December | 2020 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 10,000 | 2,000 | 43,500 | 48,500 | 747,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 4,000 | 0 | 17,000 | 2,000 | 70,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 6,000 | 0 | 22,000 | 0 | 106,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 15,000 | 0 | 60,000 | 0 | 350,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 5,500 | 0 | 20,500 | 10,500 | 242,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 100,000 | 0 | 2,800,000 | 751,000 | 30,089,500 |
| America Samoa 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Weir Farm 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Salt River Bay 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Marsh Billings 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| Tallgrass Prairie 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56,500 |
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