Most precious metals declined on Friday, taking away some from their weekly gains. Gold was among the metals to decline, slipping from an 8.5-month high, but it still booked a more than 3% weekly increase.
On Friday, gold for April delivery shed $2.20, or 0.1%, to settle at $1,899.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"The latest development around the Russia-Ukraine situation was positive and that saw a slight pullback in gold," Reuters quoted RJO Futures senior market strategist Bob Haberkorn.
Gold prices shot 3.1% higher this week, for a third straight weekly gain. The yellow metal made advances of 1.9% last week and 1.2% in the week ending Feb. 4. On Thursday, gold scored its best settlement since June 2. It is 3.9% higher 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 18 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, 13, or 72%, called for gold prices to rise. At the same time, three analysts, or 22%, called for lower gold prices next week. One analyst, or 5%, was neutral on gold in the near term.
Meanwhile, 864 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 564 respondents, or 65%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 196, or 23%, said lower, while 104 voters, or 12%, were neutral in the near term."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery rose 11.7 cents, or 0.5%, to close at $23.992 an ounce. The settlement was the highest since Jan. 21 when silver finished at $24.32 an ounce. Silver prices gained nearly 2.7% this week after jumping 4% last week and rising 0.8% in the week ending Feb. 4. They are just above 2.7% on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
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April platinum fell $15.90, or 1.5%, to end at $1,076.80 an ounce, but registered a 5.7% weekly gain.
- Palladium for March delivery dropped $21.20, or 0.9%, to end at $2,337.90 an ounce, but soared 6.6% on the week.
The pair of metals is higher on the year so far with increases of 11.5% for platinum and 22.3% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Weekly sales of United States Mint bullion products slowed for silver coins and weakened overall, for gold coins. In week-over-week comparisons:
- American Gold Eagles rose 11,000 ounces against 22,500 ounces last week,
- American Gold Buffalos added 6,500 ounces compared to 5,500 ounces last week, and
- American Silver Eagles rose 480,000 ounces following two straight weekly gains of 500,000 ounces.
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 | December | January | February | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 21,000 | 10,500 | 41,000 | 123,500 | 31,500 | 155,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 45,000 | 0 | 45,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 64,000 | 2,000 | 66,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 10,000 | 5,000 | 0 | 195,000 | 15,000 | 210,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,500 | 6,500 | 10,500 | 61,500 | 12,000 | 73,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 500,000 | 480,500 | 0 | 5,001,000 | 980,500 | 5,981,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
