Precious metals advanced in low-volume trading ahead of the Christmas break on Friday, padding their weekly gains. Silver ended at a four-week high while gold marked a five-week high.
Gold for February delivery rose $9.50, or 0.5%, to settle at $1,811.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the highest since Nov. 19 when gold ended at $1,851.60 an ounce.
Gold prices climbed 0.4% this week following gains of 1.1% last week and 0.05% for the week ending Dec. 10. They are 4.4% 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 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, nine analysts, or 69%, called for gold prices to rise next week. At the same time, bearish and neutral views garnered two votes or 15% each.
Meanwhile, a total of 638 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 343 respondents, or 54%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 134, or 21%, said lower, while 161 voters, or 25%, were neutral."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery ended up 12.1 cents, or 0.5%, to $22.94 an ounce. The close was the highest since Nov. 26 when silver finished at $23.107 an ounce.
Silver futures traded 1.8% higher this week after rising 1.5% last week. They are 13.2% lower on the year.
In PGM future prices on Thursday and for the week:
-
January platinum added $6.70, or 0.7%, to end at $975.10 an ounce, for a 4.3% weekly gain.
- Palladium for March delivery added $67.60, or 3.6%, to end at $1,956.90 an ounce, for an increase of 9.6% on the week.
Both are down on the year so far with losses of 9.7% for platinum and 20.3% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2021
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged this week. 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) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday / This Week | Last Week | October | November | December | 2021 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 14,500 | 135,500 | 125,500 | 41,000 | 1,115,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 95,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 22,000 | 10,000 | 2,000 | 162,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 85,000 | 40,000 | 0 | 490,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,500 | 41,000 | 39,500 | 10,500 | 350,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 1,076,000 | 1,523,500 | 0 | 28,275,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,700 | 0 | 8,700 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin* | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52,900 |
