Platinum gained on Friday while gold, silver and palladium declined. All the metals, however, dropped on the week. Palladium and silver finished the day at their lowest price since July 2020. Gold, meanwhile, closed Friday at a more than five-week low.
Gold for December delivery shed $5.30, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,751.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since Aug. 10 when gold closed at $1,731.70 an ounce.
Gold shed 2.3% this week, matching its loss last week. Before then, the yellow metal logged four weeks of gains that had raised prices by a combined $70.60 or 4%. Gold is 7.6% 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. Bearish and neutral sentiment was tied this week, each garnering seven votes or 47%. At the same time, one analyst or 7% was bullish on gold…
…A total of 757 votes were cast in online polls. Of these, 339 respondents, or 45%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 294, or 39%, said lower, while 124 voters, or 16%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for December delivery dropped 45.7 cents, or 2%, to close at $22.337 an ounce. The settlement was the weakest since silver ended at $21.557 an ounce on July 21, 2020. Silver prices sank 6.5% this week after falling 3.6% last week. They are down 15.4% on the year.
In other precious metal futures on Friday and for the week:
-
October platinum rose $7.30, or 0.8%, to end at $930.60 an ounce, but posted a 2.7% weekly loss.
- Palladium for December delivery fell $37.70, or 1.9%, to settle at $1,983.80 an ounce, for a 6.7% weekly decline. The close was the lowest since palladium finished at $1,963.20 an ounce on July 9, 2020.
Both metals are down on the year so far with losses of 13.8% for platinum and 19.2% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
United States Mint bullion sales this week quickened overall for gold and silver coins. In week-over-week comparisons:
-
Sales of American Gold Eagles rose 33,000 ounces after increasing 20,000 ounces last week.
-
Sales of American Buffalo gold coins increased 5,500 ounces after climbing 10,000 ounces last week.
-
Sales of American Silver Eagles rose 1,500,000 ounces after increasing 750,000 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 | September | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 20,000 | 19,500 | 29,500 | 112,000 | 49,000 | 795,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 21,000 | 3,000 | 80,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 6,000 | 34,000 | 6,000 | 126,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 50,000 | 10,000 | 340,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 1,000 | 10,000 | 5,500 | 27,500 | 15,500 | 251,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 750,000 | 1,500,000 | 3,930,000 | 2,250,000 | 25,190,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
