Gold registered a very modest increase on Friday, its first in four sessions, gently bumping up its weekly gain. Meanwhile, silver, platinum and palladium posted weekly losses.
Gold for December delivery rose 90 cents, or 0.05%, to close at $1,784 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"We do have a two-sided market at the moment. The dollar has been relatively strong of late as a result of this expectation that the Fed will move towards tapering, based on recent commentary," Reuters quoted David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
"Other side, we still believe there’s an underlying support in this gold market right now. We’re starting to see some drags from Delta on the global economic recovery."
Gold futures inched 0.3% higher this week after climbing 0.9% last week. They are 5.9% 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, 7, or 47%, called for gold prices to rise. There was a tie among bearish and neutral analysts, with both scenarios garnering four votes or 27% each.
Meanwhile, A total of 930 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 428 respondents, or 46%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 334, or 36%, said lower, while 168 voters, or 18%, were neutral."
Down for a fourth straight session, silver for September delivery declined 11.8 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $23.112 an ounce. Silver futures fell 2.8% this week following losses of 2.3% last week and 4.8% in the week ending Aug. 6. They are 12.5% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week
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October platinum gained $23, or 2.4%, to end at $994.20 an ounce, but logged a 3.1% weekly loss.
- Palladium for September delivery fell $21.40, or 0.9%, to finish at $2,276.50 an ounce, for a 14.3% weekly decline.
Both are lower on the year so far with platinum down 7.9% and palladium off 7.2%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
United States Mint bullion sales this week compared to last week slowed for both gold and silver coins. In week-over-week comparisons:
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Sales of American Gold Eagles rose 39,500 ounces after increasing 41,500 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Buffalo gold coins increased 2,000 ounces after gaining 13,500 ounces last week.
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Sales of American Silver Eagles climbed 824,500 ounces after rising 968,500 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 | 0 | 40,000 | 28,000 | 158,000 | 49,500 | 83,500 | 717,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 21,000 | 15,000 | 10,000 | 21,000 | 77,000 |
| $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 | 10,000 | 90,000 | 40,000 | 40,000 | 320,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 13,500 | 2,000 | 27,500 | 14,500 | 18,500 | 226,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 968,500 | 824,000 | 2,800,000 | 3,104,000 | 2,405,000 | 21,415,500 |
| $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 |
