Precious metals advanced on Friday, padding their exceptional weekly gains, but only palladium posted an increase on the month.
On Friday, gold for December delivery rose $12.60, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,781.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the best since July 1.
"If the US economic data turn out to be weaker next week, gold is likely to make further gains," Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank AG, said in a note reported by Bloomberg News. "This applies in particular to the report on the labor market, as Fed Chair Powell has still been describing the market as robust, which besides the persistently high inflation is another argument in favor of further rate hikes."
Gold prices jumped 3.2% this week, trimming their loss in July to 1.4%. The weekly gain was a second in a row following five straight weekly declines. The yellow metal is 2.6% 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 16 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, 11 analysts, or 69%, were bullish on gold in the near term. At the same time, three analysts, or 19%, were bearish on gold. Two analysts, or 13%, cast neutral votes this week.
Meanwhile, 1,543 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 961 respondents, or 62%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 334, or 22%, said lower, while 248 voters, or 16%, were neutral in the near term."
Elsewhere, silver for September delivery tacked on 32.9 cents, or 1.7%, to settle at $20.197 an ounce. The finish was the highest since June 30.
Silver prices rallied 8.5% this week, reducing their July loss to 0.8%. Like for gold, silver’s weekly win was its second in a row following five consecutive drops. The precious metal is 13.5% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday, for the week and for the month:
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October platinum added $13, or 1.5%, to end at $889.80 an ounce, for a 2.6% weekly gain. Platinum edged 0.6% lower in July.
- Palladium for September delivery surged $49.50, or 2.4%, to end at $2,129.70 an ounce — the highest close since July 11. Palladium scored gains of 5.5% this week and 11.2% in July.
The two are divided on the year so far with platinum 7.9% lower and palladium 11.4% higher.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
The United States Mint has not published any bullion sales changes in two weeks. 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 | 0 | 164,500 | 31,000 | 33,000 | 659,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 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 | 0 | 56,000 | 21,500 | 23,000 | 282,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,350,000 | 925,000 | 425,000 | 11,131,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23,500 | 15,000 | 78,500 |
