Precious metals dropped on Friday, cementing weekly losses for gold and palladium and trimming gains on the week for silver and platinum.
Down for a second session following two straight gains, gold for December delivery gave back $20.80, or 1.3%, to settle at $1,644.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices slipped 0.7% this week after climbing 0.5% last week. They are 10.1% 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:
"Kitco’s weekly gold survey results revealed that Wall Street has a slightly bullish tilt on gold prices next week. Out of 17 analysts participating in the survey, seven analysts, or 41%, expect prices to rise next week. Meanwhile, six analysts, or 35%, were bearish in the near term and four analysts, or 24%, were neutral on gold.
Sentiment on Main Street was relatively similar. This week 473 respondents took part in online polls. A total of 200 voters, or 43%, called for gold to rise. Another 169, or 37%, predicted gold would fall. The remaining 94 voters, or 20%, called for a sideways market."
Falling for the first time in seven sessions and from a more than two-week high, silver for December delivery lost 34.7 cents, or 1.8%, to settle at $19.147 an ounce.
Silver prices rose 0.4% this week after soaring 5.5% last week. On Thursday, silver scored is highest finish since Oct. 10. The metal is 18% lower on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
-
January platinum shed $18.30, or 1.9%, to end at $949.10 an ounce, but still managed a 1.6% weekly increase.
- Palladium for December delivery dropped $41, or 2.1%, to end at $1,897.20 an ounce, for a 5.4% weekly decline.
Both metals are lower for the year so far with losses of 1.8% for platinum and 0.8% for palladium.
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 / Week | June | July | August | September | October | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 31,000 | 59,500 | 47,500 | 47,500 | 54,500 | 835,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 5,000 | 2,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 74,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 18,000 | 2,000 | 4,000 | 4,000 | 2,000 | 140,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 135,000 | 20,000 | 20,000 | 15,000 | 15,000 | 575,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 21,500 | 39,500 | 22,500 | 44,500 | 32,500 | 398,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 925,000 | 850,000 | 850,000 | 833,000 | 850,000 | 14,089,500 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 23,500 | 15,500 | 1,000 | 0 | 0 | 80,000 |
