Precious metals ended Friday with gains, padding their increases on the week. Weekly advances for gold and silver were their first in many weeks — five for gold and seven for silver.
On Friday, gold for April delivery rose $14.10, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,854.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold notched a 2.1% weekly gain, following four straight weekly losses which had reduced prices by a combined $112.30, or 5.8%. The yellow metal is 1.6% 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, 19 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey. Among the participants, 13 analysts, or 68%, were bullish on gold in the near term. At the same time, one analyst, or 5%, was bearish for next week and five analysts, or 26%, saw prices trading sideways.
Meanwhile, 495 votes were cast in online polls. Of these, 254 respondents, or 51%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 145, or 29%, said it would be lower, while 96 voters, or 19%, were neutral in the near term."
Elsewhere, silver for May delivery settled up 33.7 cents, or 1.6%, to $21.238 an ounce, driving prices also 2.1% higher on the week. Before then, the precious metal had notched six consecutive weekly losses in which prices fell a combined $3.56, or 14.6%. Silver is 11.7% lower on the year.
In PGM prices on Friday and for the week:
-
April platinum added $16.20, or 1.7%, to end at $979.40 an ounce, for a 7.9% weekly gain.
- Palladium for June delivery added $4.10, or 0.3%, to end at $1,444.90 an ounce, for a 5.2% weekly gain.
The two are lower on the year so far with losses of 9.6% for platinum and 19.4% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
Published United States Mint bullion sales were unchanged Friday. On Thursday, the U.S. Mint adjusted bullion sales for February with combined increases of 9,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles and 5,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos
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 | January Sales | February | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 32,500 | 118,000 | 41,500 | 159,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 7,000 | 37,000 | 8,000 | 45,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 10,000 | 62,000 | 12,000 | 74,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 20,000 | 115,000 | 85,000 | 200,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 14,500 | 59,000 | 19,500 | 78,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 450,000 | 3,949,000 | 900,000 | 4,849,000 |
