Precious metals advanced for a second straight session, driving or padding weekly gains for silver, gold and palladium. Platinum, meanwhile, posted one of the sharpest increases among metals on Friday but still dropped over 1% on the week.
On Friday, gold for June delivery rose $7.80, or 0.4%, to settle at $1,945.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold futures moved ahead 1.1% this week after falling 1.6% last week. They are 6.4% 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, 16 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, ten analysts, or 63%, called for gold prices to rise next week. At the same time, six analysts, or 38%, were neutral on prices.
Meanwhile, 842 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 478 respondents, or 57%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 198, or 23%, said lower, while 166 voters, or 20%, were neutral in the near term."
Elsewhere, silver for May delivery climbed 8.8 cents, or 0.4%, to close at $24.823 an ounce. Silver prices registered a 0.7% weekly increase after sinking 3.8% last week. They are 6.3% higher on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
July platinum jumped $17.60, or 1.8%, to end at $975.60 an ounce, but declined 1.3% from a week ago.
- Palladium for June delivery soared $197, or 8.9% to end at $2,420.10 an ounce, for a 6.7% weekly gain.
Both are higher on the year so far with increases 1% for platinum and 26.6% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Weekly sales of United States Mint bullion products improved for silver coins and were about the same, overall, for gold coins. In week-over-week comparisons:
- American Gold Eagles rose 26,000 ounces against 20,500 ounces
- American Gold Buffalos climbed 7,000 ounces compared to 11,000 ounces
- American Silver Eagles rose 425,000 ounces against no sales
- American Platinum Eagles were flat for a second week in a row
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 | January | February | March | This Week / April | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 19,000 | 123,500 | 86,000 | 140,500 | 21,500 | 371,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 45,000 | 0 | 5,000 | 1,000 | 51,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 2,000 | 64,000 | 4,000 | 20,000 | 6,000 | 94,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 195,000 | 25,000 | 75,000 | 25,000 | 320,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 11,000 | 61,500 | 28,500 | 64,500 | 7,000 | 161,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 5,001,000 | 1,500,000 | 1,080,500 | 425,000 | 8,006,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | N/A | 25,800 | 14,200 | 0 | 40,000 |
| $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 |
