Gold Gets First Weekly Win in Three, US Mint Bullion Coins Jump

San Francisco (Nov 17)   Gold closed higher for a second straight day Friday, notching its first weekly gain in three — albeit a modest one with a 0.2% pick up from a week ago.

On Friday,gold for December delivery added $1.10, or less than 0.1%, to settle at $1,287.40 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Its weekly gain came despite a five-session losing streak that lasted through Wednesday. The turnaround happened after comments from Fed chairman nominee Janet Yellen signaled support for the current stimulus program of the central bank.

"It’s unlikely that (Fed chairman) Bernanke will do anything at his last meeting if he perceives that his successor would prefer to leave policy unchanged," Bloomberg News quoted Nic Brown, head of commodities research at Natixis SA in London. "The dollar may drop back, too. This is all potentially positive for gold prices in the very short term."

Gold Forecasts

Gold surveys last week were divided in price expectations for this week. New surveys are more aligned with a bullish outlook.

"In the Kitco News Gold Survey, out of 34 participants, 25 responded this week. Of these, 10 see prices up, while eight see prices down and seven see prices sideways or are neutral," notes an analyst. "Market participants include bullion dealers, investment banks, futures traders and technical-chart analysts."

Bloomberk reports its survey has 18 participants forecasting higher gold prices next week compared to 9 who were bearish and 2 who were neutral.

Silver, Platinum and Palladium Futures

Silver for December delivery edged up a half cent to end at $20.73 an ounce. It also marked a second day of gains. On Wednesday, it had dropped for the ninth time in ten sessions. Silver prices tumbled 2.8% for the week and they have plunged 31.4% for the year-to-date.

In PGM futures prices on Friday:

• January platinum lost $5.20, or 0.4%, to finish at $1,438.90 an ounce.

• Palladium for December delivery declined $7.15, or 1%, to settle at $732.65 an ounce. Palladium has closed lower in six of the last seven sessions.

Both metals declined on the week with platinum off 0.3% and palladium down 3.3%. Palladium is still higher on the year, up 4.2%, but platinum has lost 6.7%.

The following grid summarizes precious metals futures for the month-to-date, the completed quarters in 2013 and the year-to-date.