Precious metals logged solid to exceptional gains on Friday, lifting gold and palladium to weekly wins and adding more to platinum’s already strong increases from earlier in the week.
Gold for December delivery tacked on $26.40, or 1.5%, to settle at $1,778.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"Gold has been caught in the crossfire," wrote Victor Argonov, senior analyst at Exante, in a Friday note reported by MarketWatch. "Although the current central bank policy measures should be supporting prices, the relative strength of the dollar is applying headwinds for gold, while the rallying stock markets means haven demand for precious metal is also not as strong as last year."
Gold futures traded 0.9% higher this week after sliding 3% last week. They are 6.2% 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, 8, or 62%, called for gold prices to rise next week; meanwhile, three analysts, or 23%, expect to see lower prices, and two analysts, or 15%, were neutral on gold in the near term.
Meanwhile, 914 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 517 respondents, or 57%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 233, or 25%, said lower, while 164 voters, or 18%, were neutral on the price."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery surged 66.3 cents, or 2.9%, to close at $23.779 an ounce. Still, the precious metal dropped 2.3% on the week. Silver prices tumbled 4.8% last week. They are down 10% on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week
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October platinum rose $8.30, or 0.8%, to end at $1,026 an ounce, for a 5.5% weekly gain.
- Palladium for September delivery added $32.60, or 1.2%, to finish at $2,656.50 an ounce, for an increase on the week of 1%.
The two are dived on the year so far with platinum 4.9% lower and palladium 8.3% higher.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
United States Mint bullion sales this week compared to last week are significantly higher for both gold and silver coins. In week-over-week comparisons:
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Sales of American Gold Eagles rose 41,500 ounces after increasing 17,000 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Buffalo gold coins increased 13,500 ounces after gaining 3,000 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Silver Eagles climbed 968,500 ounces after rising 612,500 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 | June | July | August | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 3,000 | 15,500 | 40,000 | 158,000 | 49,500 | 55,500 | 689,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 0 | 56,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30,000 | 0 | 0 | 86,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 90,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 310,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 2,000 | 3,000 | 13,500 | 27,500 | 14,500 | 16,500 | 224,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 612,500 | 968,500 | 2,800,000 | 3,104,000 | 1,581,000 | 20,591,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
