Prices of precious metals increased on Friday, resulting in weekly gains for all of them except palladium. Gold saw its fourth consecutive weekly gain, albeit the most recent two being very modest.
Ending higher for a second day following two straight losses, gold for December delivery climbed by $5.70, or 0.3%, to settle at $1,999.20 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices inched higher by 0.04% (equivalent to 70 cents) this week, following gains of 0.2% last week, 2.7% in the week ending Oct. 20, and 5.2% in the week ending Oct. 13. Year-to-date, the yellow metal is 9.5% higher.
Looking to the week ahead, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street surveys:
"This week, 15 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey. Nine experts, or 60%, expected to see higher gold prices next week, while only one analyst, or 7%, predicted a drop in price. The remaining five, or 33%, were neutral on gold for the coming week.
Meanwhile, 701 votes were cast in Kitco’s online polls, and sentiment was virtually identical to that of last week’s survey. 446 retail investors, or 64%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 157, or 22%, expected it would be lower, while 98 respondents, or 14%, were neutral on the near-term prospects for the precious metal."
Also, after two straight losses, silver for December rose for the second consecutive session, jumping by 43.9 cents, or 1.9%, and closing at $23.285 an ounce. Silver prices increased by 1.7% this week after a 2.6% drop last week. They are 3.1% lower on the year to date.
In other precious metals, both on Friday and for the week:
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January platinum rose by $13.70, or 1.5%, to end at $944.30 an ounce, advancing its weekly gain to 4.3%.
- Palladium for December delivery tacked on $17.70, or 1.6%, to close at $1,128.30 an ounce, reducing its weekly loss to 0.2%.
When assessing their performance from the beginning of the year to now, platinum has seen a decline of 12.8%, whereas palladium has undergone a more significant drop of 37.3%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
U.S. Mint bullion sales last changed on Wednesday, with adjusted bullion sales for October increasing by 5,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, by 632,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and by 3,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos.
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold (not total ounces) during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday / November | Last Week | This Week | August | September | October | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 7,500 | 4,000 | 78,000 | 27,500 | 97,000 | 869,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 1,000 | 3,000 | 2,000 | 13,000 | 7,000 | 95,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 2,000 | 30,000 | 18,000 | 182,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 150,000 | 40,000 | 30,000 | 605,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,500 | 3,000 | 19,500 | 18,500 | 36,500 | 367,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 1,019,000 | 632,000 | 3,124,000 | 2,970,000 | 3,938,000 | 21,847,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 |
