Precious metals declined on Friday, trimming weekly gains for gold and silver while deepening weekly losses for platinum and palladium.
On Friday, gold for April delivery lost $15.40, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,985 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold prices increased 0.9% this week after soaring 4.2% last week. On Tuesday, gold at $2,043.30 an ounce logged its highest settlement since Aug. 6, 2020. The yellow metal is 8.6% 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 18 Wall Street analysts participated in Kitco News’ gold survey. Among the participants, eight analysts, or 44%, called for gold prices to rise next week. At the same time, three analysts, or 17%, were bearish on gold in the near term, and seven analysts or 39% were neutral on prices.
Meanwhile, 1,013 votes were cast in online Main Street polls. Of these, 634 respondents, or 63%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 223, or 22%, said lower, while 156 voters, or 15%, were neutral in the near term.”
Elsewhere, silver for May delivery gave back 9.6 cents, or 0.4% to settle at $26.16 an ounce. On Tuesday, silver at $26.895 marked its best finish since June 16.
Silver prices advanced 1.4% this week, for their sixth consecutive weekly win. Immediate prior weekly gains were 7.4%; 0.1%; 2.7%; 4%; and 0.8%. They are 12% higher on the year.
In PGM futures on Friday and for the week:
- April platinum dipped $6.60, or 0.6%, to end at $1,088.60 an ounce, for a 2.5% weekly decline.
- Palladium for June delivery sank $123.70, or 4.2%, to end at $2,796.80 an ounce, for a 6.2% weekly loss. Last Friday, palladium posted a record settlement of $2,981.90.
Both are higher for the year so far with gains of 12.7% for platinum and 46.3% for palladium.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2022
Weekly sales of United States Mint bullion products picked up for gold, silver and platinum coins. In week-over-week comparisons:
- American Gold Eagles rose 68,500 ounces against 27,500 ounces last week,
- American Gold Buffalos gained 22,000 ounces compared to 11,500 ounces last week,
- American Silver Eagles climbed 600,000 ounces following no gains last week, and
- American Platinum Eagles added 6,500 ounces compared to 4,700 ounces last 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 | Last Week | This Week | January | February | March | 2022 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 27,500 | 60,500 | 123,500 | 86,000 | 69,000 | 278,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 45,000 | 0 | 1,000 | 46,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 12,000 | 64,000 | 4,000 | 12,000 | 80,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 45,000 | 195,000 | 25,000 | 45,000 | 265,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 11,500 | 22,000 | 61,500 | 28,500 | 27,000 | 117,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 600,000 | 5,001,000 | 1,500,000 | 600,000 | 7,101,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 4,700 | 6,500 | N/A | 25,800 | 11,200 | 37,000 |
| $25 American Eagle 1 Oz Palladium Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Tuskegee Airmen 5 oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |