Gold prices sparkle above $2,600 per ounce

Gold prices finished this week at a new high, with the New York spot price closing Friday at $2,622.40 per ounce, up $36.30. Gold producers in Nevada should benefit from the record price.

Gold futures for December were also up, trading on Friday afternoon at $2,644.70 an ounce. The spot gold price climbed during the day. The London p.m. fix price for Thursday was $2,575.35 per ounce. Spot silver prices also rose Friday, closing at $31.14, up 39 cents.

Gold futures had hit $2,600 an ounce last week, but did not climb this high, and analysts and commentators attributed the increase mostly to a reaction to the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut of 50 basis points. That was higher than many expected.

"Gold prices are ending the week at another record high. Looking ahead, with the Federal Reserve just embarking on a new easing cycle, analysts have said that the precious metal has the potential to move higher next week and through the rest of the year," said Neils Christensen of Kitco News.

He wrote Friday that gold's reaction to the cut in interest rates was tempered by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comment that the central bank is not in a hurry to east interest rates. Powell said the Fed is recalibrating its monetary policy.

Christensen quoted several market analysts, including Patricia Mohr, an independent economist and commodity market specialist, who said that "the Fed wants to ensure a 'soft landing' for the U.S. economy, with the drop likely to be mirrored by other central banks, bolstering economic conditions and demand for metals."

The latest Kitco News Weekly Gold Survey showed retail investors overwhelmingly optimistic about gold's potential price gains next week, while industry experts were evenly divided between further strength and near-term consolidation, according to Ernest Hoffman of Kitco.

"Current trends are very positive for gold, and if these favorable market conditions continue, prices could reach between $2,600 and $2,800 over the next 12 months," said Kyle Rodda, a financial market analyst at Capital.com, according to Reuters, which quoted Rodda early Friday before the spot price hit a record.

The higher gold prices give a boost to gold producers, even with the higher costs for labor and mining supplies the companies mentioned in their earnings reports over the past couple of years.

Nevada Division of Minerals Administrator Robert Ghiglieri said earlier in the week in an interview that "when you have gold hovering at $2,500 an ounce, there are definitely going to be opportunities at some of the larger, older pits like Goldstrike, Twin Creeks or Marigold."

He forecast growth in Nevada gold production because of higher gold prices, and that was before Friday's record spot price. Nevada produced 4.03 million ounces of gold in 2023.

Goldstrike is a Nevada Gold Mines operation on the Carlin Trend and Twin Creeks is an NGM operation in Humboldt County that is now part of the Turquoise Ridge Complex. Marigold is operated by SSX Mining at Valmy. NGM is operated by Barrick Gold Corp., which owns 61.5% of the joint venture. Newmont Corp. holds the remainder of NGM.

Share prices in companies that produce gold in Nevada were up Friday, too.

Newmont shares were $54.46 near closing, up 94 cents, and Barrick Gold shares were $20.39 each, up 16 cents. Kinross Gold Corp. shares were at $9.59, up 25 cents, and SSR Mining shares were at $6, up 17 cents.

Coeur Mining shares were at $6.97, up 6 cents, and Calibre Mining Corp. shares were at $2.02, up three and a half cents.