On Friday, prices for precious metals declined, resulting in weekly losses for all except palladium. While gold and platinum experienced very modest declines for the week, silver saw a sharp drop.
Ending lower for a third session, gold for June delivery shed 70 cents, or 0.03%, to settle at $2,019.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The settlement was the lowest since May 1.
On the week, gold prices experienced a dip of nearly 0.3%, compared to gains of 1.3% last week and 0.4% in the week ending April 28. Year to date, prices have risen by 10.6%.
As we look 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. In a tied vote, both bearish and bullish positions garnered eight votes each or 42%. At the same time, three analysts, or 16%, were neutral on gold for next week.
Meanwhile, 665 votes were cast in online polls. Of these, 382 respondents, or 57%, looked for gold to rise next week. Another 162, or 24%, said it would be lower, while 121 voters, or 18%, were neutral in the near term.”
Also down for a third consecutive session, silver for July delivery lost 27 cents, or 1.1%, closing at $24.154 an ounce, marking its lowest settlement since April 3.
Silver prices witnessed a 6.9% decline this week following a 2.8% increase the previous week. So far this year, silver has gained 0.5%.
Shifting focus to other precious metals, on Friday and for the week:
-
July platinum declined by $38, or 3.4%, closing at $1,067 an ounce, resulting in a weekly loss of 0.1%.
- Palladium for June delivery dropped by $40.20, or 2.6%, to close at $1,513.80, trimming its weekly gain to 1.8%.
Considering the performance for the year so far, platinum has seen a decrease of 1.5%, while palladium has suffered a loss of 15.8%.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2023
Last week, the U.S. Mint reported no change in bullion sales. This week, the bureau posted gains of:
- 17,500 ounces in American Gold Eagles,
- 23,000 ounces in American Gold Buffalos, and
- 450,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles.
The table below presents a breakdown of U.S. Mint bullion products sold, with columns indicating the number of coins sold during different time periods.
| US Mint Bullion Sales (# of coins) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | Last Week | This Week / May | February | March | April | 2023 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 13,000 | 41,500 | 211,000 | 159,000 | 542,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8,000 | 1,000 | 8,000 | 54,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 18,000 | 12,000 | 10,000 | 12,000 | 114,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 85,000 | 10,000 | 35,000 | 245,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 0 | 23,000 | 19,500 | 73,000 | 61,000 | 235,500 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 450,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 900,000 | 7,099,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | N/A | 7,500 | 500 | 8,000 |
Read More: Gold Inches Down, Silver Plunges Nearly 7%