Precious metals tumbled Friday, padding their weekly losses, as U.S. jobs data for July came in better than expected and pressured safe havens. Gold ended the day at an almost four-month low.
Gold for December delivery lost $45.80, or 2.5%, to settle at $1,763.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the weakest since gold ended April 14 at $1,736.30 an ounce.
"The job numbers are hitting gold because they blew away expectations, so the market is anticipating that the Fed’s taper date could be brought forward with an announcement in September and the actual tapering in early January most likely," Reuters quoted Phillip Streible, chief market strategist at Blue Line Futures in Chicago.
U.S. nonfarm payrolls increased by 943,000 jobs last month and the unemployment rate fell to 5.4% from 5.9%, the Labor Department said on Friday.
Gold prices gave back 3% this week after rising 0.9% last week. They are 7% 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 15 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, 13, or 87%, called for gold prices to fall next week; simultaneously, only two analysts, or 13%, expect to see sideways trading in the near term.
Meanwhile, 1,128 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 603 respondents, or 53%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 305, or 27%, said lower, while 220 voters, or 20%, were neutral on the price."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery sank 96.6 cents, or 3.8%, to close at $24.326 an ounce. Silver futures traded 4.8% lower this week after rising 1.2% last week. The metal has now posted a fifth weekly loss in six weeks, and is down on the year by 7.9%.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week
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October platinum fell $33.50, or 3.3%, to finish at $972.20 an ounce, for a hefty 7.3% weekly drop.
- Palladium for September delivery fell $25, or 0.9%, to end at $2,630.10 an ounce, for a 1% weekly decline.
The two are dived on the year so far with platinum 9.9% lower and palladium 7.2% higher.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
United States Mint bullion sales this week compared to last week are stronger for gold coins and weaker for silver coins. In week-over-week comparisons:
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Sales of American Gold Eagles rose 17,000 ounces after increasing 10,000 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Buffalo gold coins increased 3,000 ounces after gaining 500 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Silver Eagles climbed 612,500 ounces after rising 760,000 ounces last week.
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) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Last Week | This Week / August | May | June | July | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 15,500 | 20,500 | 158,000 | 49,500 | 649,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 56,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 86,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 40,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 90,000 | 40,000 | 295,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 500 | 3,000 | 44,000 | 27,500 | 14,500 | 211,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 760,000 | 612,500 | 0 | 2,800,000 | 3,104,000 | 19,623,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 40,000 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,900 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
