Precious metals advanced on Friday, aside from silver which fell about a dime, but they all posted gains on the week. Weekly increases for gold and silver were their first in six weeks.
On Friday, gold for August delivery rose $14, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,727.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold advanced 1.4% this week following five straight weekly losses that reduced its price by a total of $171.90, or 9.2%. Gold is 5.5% 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 18 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, 12 analysts, or 67%, we’re bullish on gold in the near term. At the same time, six analysts, or 33%, were bearish on gold. There were no neutral votes cast this week.
Due to technical issues, only 187 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 105 respondents, or 56%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 52, or 28%, said lower, while 16 voters, or 31%, were neutral in the near term."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery shed 10.2 cents, or 0.5%, to settle at $18.617 an ounce. Silver edged 0.1% higher this week after five weekly losses dropped its price by a combined $3.34, or 15.2%. The precious metal is 20.3% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
October platinum added $8.50, or 1%, to end at $867.20 an ounce, for a 4.4% weekly increase.
- Palladium for September delivery soared $142.10, or 7.6%, to end at $2,018.80 an ounce, scoring a 10.4% gain on the week.
The two are divided on the year so far with platinum 10.3% lower and palladium 5.6% higher.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
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.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday / This Week | Last Week | May | June | July | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,000 | 164,500 | 31,000 | 33,000 | 659,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 7,000 | 6,000 | 3,000 | 69,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 130,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 50,000 | 135,000 | 5,000 | 510,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 14,000 | 56,000 | 21,500 | 23,000 | 282,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 425,000 | 1,350,000 | 925,000 | 425,000 | 11,131,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 0 | 23,500 | 15,000 | 78,500 |
