Bullion prices soared Friday and for the week, helped by a worse-than-expected U.S. employment report that raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will offer another round of stimulus.
On Friday, December gold prices rallied $34.90, or 2%, to $1,740.50 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the gold’s best closing price since the end of February. On Friday, the Labor Department reported 96,000 new jobs last month, down from the revised 141,000 in June.
"In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 33 participants, 29 responded this week. Of those 29 participants, 22 see prices up, while four see prices down, and three are neutral or see prices moving sideways," noted Debbie Carlson of Kitco News.
"Gold prices notched six-month highs this week after traders bought the metal on ideas that monetary stimulus is coming from the Fed… Gold leapt higher Friday when a disappointing monthly payrolls report underscored the problems with job creation in the U.S."
For the week, gold prices advanced 3.1%. Silver jumped the most out of the metals with its 7.1% increase. Following were palladium at 4% and platinum at 3.8%.
As for the precious metals on Friday, September silver gained $1.02, or 3.1%, to $33.69 an ounce, December palladium rose $7 or 1.1%, to $654.75 an ounce and October platinum added $9.90, or 0.6%, to $1,596.30 an ounce.
The following table provides New York bullion prices on a daily basis and the most recent weekly changes.
| New York Futures – Bullion Prices | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Weekly Change ($/%) |
|
| Silver Prices | $31.05 | $32.41 | $32.33 | $32.674 | $33.690 | $2.25 7.1% |
| Gold Prices | $1,675.60 | $1,696.00 | $1,694.00 | $1,705.600 | $1,740.500 |
$52.90 |
| Platinum Prices | $1,553.20 | $1,567.50 | $1,575.60 | $1,586.400 | $1,596.300 | $59.00 3.8% |
| Palladium Prices | $654.75 | $641.45 | $646.95 | $647.750 | $654.750 | $25.35 4.0% |
United States Mint Bullion Coins
United States Mint bullion coins moved a bit slower this week as compared to the previous one, but sales were higher than many past weeks through the last two months. Weekly sales include.
- 12,000 ounces of gold bullion coins compared to the previous week’s 18,000 ounces.
- 679,000 ounces of silver bullion coins compared to the prior week’s 809,000 ounces.
The latest sales of United Stats Mint bullion coins are offered in the daily, September and 2012 columns below.
| Sales of United States Mint 2012 Bullion Coins | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thurs | Fri | September | 2012 Sales | |
| 1 oz American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin | 0 | 1,500 | 4,500 | 0 | 4,000 | 10,000 | 357,500 |
| 1/2 oz American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3,000 | 59,000 |
| 1/4 oz American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4,000 | 58,000 |
| 1/10 oz American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 5,000 | 0 | 0 | 5,000 | 5,000 | 220,000 |
| 1 oz American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins | 0 | 500 | 0 | 0 | 1,000 | 1,500 | 89,500 |
| 5 oz America the Beautiful Bullion Silver Coins | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59,600 |
| 1 oz American Eagle Bullion Silver Coins | 0 | 250,000 | 125,000 | 0 | 279,000 | 679,000 | 23,219,000 |
Notes: The bullion totals above are in numbers of coins sold, not in ounces sold.
In other U.S. coin related news, August bullion coin sales are finalized. Every major bullion product from the U.S. Mint performed better during the month than in July. But… sales were lower than the same time a year ago. Then again, 2011 was an all-time record year for sales.
In an interesting topic, with silver prices sharply higher it goes without saying that melt values of silver coins are automatically higher as well. This melt values article provides examples of American silver coins and how their intrinsic values have changed this year.
London Bullion Prices
London bullion prices blasted off this week as well, but changes on Friday were much more reserved as compared to New York precious metals futures as the U.S. employment report had yet to break onto the scene.
The following grid offers the daily London PM Fix prices and the weekly changes.
| London Bullion Prices (PM Fixings) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thurs | Fri | Weekly Losses ($/%) |
|
| Silver Prices | $31.74 | $32.08 | $32.10 | $32.87 | $32.22 | $1.70 5.6% |
| Gold Prices | $1,691.50 | $1,697.00 | $1,690.00 | $1,701.00 | $1,728.00 | $79.50 4.8% |
| Platinum Prices | $1,543.00 | $1,554.00 | $1,564.00 | $1,578.00 | $1,593.00 | $76.00 5.0% |
| Palladium Prices | $629.00 | $638.00 | $641.00 | $644.00 | $647.00 | $24.00 3.9% |
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/gold/t24_au_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/platinum/t24_pt_en_usoz_2.gif)
![[Most Recent Quotes from www.kitco.com]](http://www.kitconet.com/charts/metals/palladium/t24_pd_en_usoz_2.gif)
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