On Friday, the prices of precious metals showed minor changes, with gold and palladium registering gains while silver and platinum recorded losses. Nevertheless, all these metals experienced significant declines over the course of the shortened week.
Climbing for a second day, gold for February delivery rose by $7.70, or 0.4%, to settle at $2,029.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold priced declined by 1.1% this week after edging 0.09% higher last week. Year-to-date, the yellow metal is down by 2.1%. On Wednesday, gold at $2,006.50 an ounce marked its lowest settlement since Dec. 13.
Looking to the week ahead, Kitco News offers the following forecasts via their Wall Street vs. Main Street surveys:
"This week, 14 Wall Street analysts participated in the Kitco News Gold Survey, and they showed that the bullishness of last week had waned considerably. Six experts, or 42%, expected to see higher gold prices next week, while four analysts, representing 29%, predicted a drop in price, and another four, the remaining 29%, were neutral on gold for the coming week.
Meanwhile, 150 votes were cast in Kitco’s online polls, and this week retail traders mirrored the views of the experts almost exactly. 66 retail investors, representing 44%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 44, or 29%, expected it would be lower, while 40 respondents, or 27%, were neutral on the near-term prospects for the precious metal."
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery slipped by 9.6 cents, or 0.4%, ending at $22.711 an ounce. Silver prices fell by 2.7% this week after inching 0.06% higher last week. They are down by 5.7% for the year. On Wednesday, silver at $22.669 an ounce registered its weakest close since Nov. 13.
In other precious metals, both on Friday and for the week:
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April platinum shed $5, or 0.6%, to end at $907 an ounce, increasing its weekly decline to 1.5%.
- Also, higher for a second day, palladium for March delivery advanced by $4.70, or 0.5%, to finish at $948.70 an ounce, reducing its weekly loss to 3.1%.
When assessing their performance in the first three weeks of the year, platinum has shown a decrease of 10.1%, whereas palladium has suffered a 14.5% loss.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
On Thursday and Friday, the U.S. Mint did not publish any changes in bullion sales. On Wednesday, the bureau reported bullion sales gains, including 11,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 846,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 4,000 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 | Last Week | This Week | November | December | 2023 Sales | January | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 12,500 | 8,000 | 40,000 | 15,000 | 924,000 | 60,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 0 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 102,000 | 21,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 16,000 | 0 | 198,000 | 36,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 5,000 | 35,000 | 55,000 | 15,000 | 675,000 | 80,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 9,000 | 4,000 | 14,000 | 5,500 | 387,000 | 36,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 850,000 | 846,000 | 2,378,000 | 525,000 | 24,750,000 | 4,875,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 | 0 |
