Precious metals declined in tandem on Friday, deepening their weekly losses, which ranged from somewhat modest for gold to severe for palladium.
Gold for April delivery gave back $9.20, or nearly 0.5%, to settle at $2,038.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
“I think that things are trending lower for the gold price; there is a pretty strong floor support at about $1,960 that I don’t expect to see gold go below,” Reuters quoted Everett Millman, chief market analyst at Gainesville Coins.
Gold prices recorded a 0.7% weekly decline, taking back a portion of last week’s 1.8% gain. Year-to-date, gold is down 1.6%.
Elsewhere, silver for March delivery shed 4.2 cents, or 0.2%, finishing at $22.594 an ounce. Silver prices lost 0.9% this week after dipping 0.3% last week, leaving them 6.2% lower for the year.
In other precious metals, both on Friday and for the week:
-
April platinum fell by $15.80, or 1.8%, to end at $878.20 an ounce, resulting in a 2.6% weekly loss.
- Palladium for March delivery declined by $22.80, or 2.6%, to end at $869.30 an ounce, thereby extending its fall for the week to 8.4%.
When assessing their performance in the first six weeks of the year, platinum has shown a 13% drop, whereas palladium has incurred a 21.6% loss.
US Mint Bullion Sales in 2024
The published U.S. Mint bullion sales last changed on Wednesday, with gains including 5,000 ounces in American Gold Eagles, 850,000 ounces in American Silver Eagles, and 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 | Week / February | January | 2024 Sales | |
| $50 American Eagle 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 16,500 | 3,000 | 87,500 | 90,500 |
| $25 American Eagle 1/2 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 3,000 | 0 | 25,000 | 25,000 |
| $10 American Eagle 1/4 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 6,000 | 0 | 46,000 | 46,000 |
| $5 American Eagle 1/10 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 25,000 | 20,000 | 115,000 | 135,000 |
| $50 American Buffalo 1 Oz Gold Coin | 0 | 8,000 | 500 | 46,500 | 47,000 |
| $1 American Eagle 1 Oz Silver Coin | 0 | 0 | 850,000 | 4,900,000 | 5,750,000 |
| $100 American Eagle 1 Oz Platinum Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
## Additional Insight:
– The decline in the price of gold points towards a possible trend that may continue, with a notable floor support at $1,960.
– It is interesting to note the contrasting performance of platinum and palladium, with platinum showing a 13% drop while palladium has incurred a more significant loss of 21.6% in the first six weeks of the year.
– The sales data from the U.S. Mint indicates fluctuations in the demand for various bullion products, with notable increases in sales of American Gold Eagles, American Silver Eagles, and American Gold Buffalos.