In precious metals prices on Friday, and in a reversal of their direction from Thursday, gold and silver registered very slight losses, while platinum and palladium recorded significant gains. For the week, gold was the only one to experience a loss. The yellow metal’s weekly decline was its second in a row.
Gold for February delivery inched down by 50 cents to settle at $2,017.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
"We are seeing the gold market consolidating at the moment as the expectations of rate declines aren’t quite as soon as the market would like," Reuters quoted David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.
Gold prices shed 0.6% on the week, after falling by 1.1% last week. Year-to-date, they are down by 2.7%.
Snapping a three-session winning streak, silver for March delivery lost 5.5 cents, or 0.2%, to close $22.872 an ounce. On Monday, silver at $22.296 an ounce marked its weakest settlement since Nov. 10. However, despite losses on Monday and on Friday, silver prices registered 0.7% weekly gain. Now, they are 5% lower on the year.
In other precious metals, both on Friday and for the week:
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April platinum tacked on $26.80, or 3%, to end at $921.30 an ounce, bringing prices up for a 1.6% weekly increase.
- Palladium for March delivery rose by $18.50, or 2%, to finish at $961.40 an ounce, resulting in a 1.3% weekly advance.
When evaluating their performance during the initial four weeks of the year, platinum has exhibited an 8.7% decline, while palladium has experienced a 13.3% loss.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
On Friday, the U.S. Mint did not publish any changes in bullion sales. On Thursday, for the first time this week, the Mint reported bullion sales gains, including 13,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 25,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 2,500 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 | 8,000 | 11,000 | 40,000 | 15,000 | 924,000 | 71,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 6,000 | 1,000 | 102,000 | 22,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 16,000 | 0 | 198,000 | 40,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 35,000 | 10,000 | 55,000 | 15,000 | 675,000 | 90,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 4,000 | 2,500 | 14,000 | 5,500 | 387,000 | 38,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 846,000 | 25,000 | 2,378,000 | 525,000 | 24,750,000 | 4,900,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12,700 | 0 |
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