Precious metals advanced on Friday but only gold scored a weekly win — its second in a row. The yellow metal also ended the day at a more than three-month high.
Gold for June delivery rose $14.10, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,838.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the strongest since Feb. 10 when gold ended at $1,842.70 an ounce.
Gold prices "held up reasonably well this week" despite a firmer U.S. dollar and a slight increase in U.S. 10-year Treasury yields, "buoyed instead by rising inflation fears," MarketWatch quoted Edward Meir, analyst at ED&F Man Capital Markets. "After all, gold is supposed to be the quintessential ‘inflation hedge’ and so if it were to do well, now is the time."
Gold futures traded 0.4% higher this week after surging 3.6% last week. They are 3% lower 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, 13 analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Of those, ten analysts, or 77%, said they were bullish on gold; at the same time, one analyst, or 8%, said they were bearish on prices next week. Two analysts, or 15%, said they see gold prices trading sideways.
Meanwhile, a total of 464 votes were cast in an online Main Street. Of these, 330 respondents, or 71%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 80 respondents, or 17%, said lower, while 54 voters, or 11%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for May delivery tacked on 30.6 cents, or 1.1%, to close at $27.365 an ounce. Despite the day’s solid gain, silver prices ended 0.4% lower on the week. They soared 6.2% last week. As for the year, silver is ahead 3.6%.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
July platinum added $16.30, or 1.4%, to end at $1,222.80 an ounce, but logged a 2.5% weekly loss.
- Palladium for June delivery finished up $30, or 1.1%, to $2,894.60 an ounce, but declined 1% on the week.
The two are higher on the year so far with gains of 13.3% for platinum and 18% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
The United States Mint has yet to report any bullion sales for May. 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 / Week / May | Last Week | February Sales | March Sales | April Sales | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 121,000 | 55,500 | 38,500 | 406,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 9,000 | 0 | 0 | 31,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 0 | 56,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 55,000 | 0 | 150,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 16,000 | 33,500 | 11,000 | 122,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,191,500 | 4,087,000 | 1,053,000 | 13,106,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 35,000 | 0 | 35,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | N/A | 50,000 | 50,000 |
