Gold and Silver Prices Soar in October, Mark Third Month of Gains

 Precious metals rallied for a second consecutive day on Friday as the U.S dollar dipped and gold prices surged toward $1,360 an ounce. The yellow metal capped its third straight monthly gain and has posted six weekly increases in seven weeks.

Speculation that the Fed will weaken the greenback with a second round of monetary easing supported gold. Prices shot up 2.5 percent this week after falling 3.4 percent last week. Other metals gained as well. Silver and palladium soared. Silver surged 6.3 percent this week and reached a fresh 30-year high. Palladium jumped 9.1 percent for the week and hit a 10-year high.

In U.S. stocks, the major indexes were mixed but closed nearly unchanged from last Friday. For the month, however, they soared between 3 and 6 percent.

Returning to U.S. bullion prices, gold futures for December delivery rallied $15.10, or 1.1 percent, to close at $1,357.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"The Fed meeting next week has been dominating the markets," Standard Bank analyst Walter de Wet, was cited on Reuters. "Ahead of that, people have positioned themselves, and from an investment perspective they are not going to add too much more gold.

"We think the gold market has priced in around a $500 billion QE exercise by the Fed," he added. "If the Fed comes out with a higher figure, we think gold will move higher. If it’s lower, it is going to be bearish for gold."

Gold advanced $32.50 this week. It gained $48.00, or 3.7 percent, in October. The metal rose 4.7 percent in September and 5.6 percent in August.

December silver jumped 68.9 cents, or 2.9 percent, to close at $24.564 an ounce. Its weekly pick up of $1.446 was the best since mid-February. Silver also registered its third straight monthly increase. It rallied 12.6 percent in October, 12.3 percent in September and 7.9 percent in August.

Silver continues to outperform gold, with the latest silver-to-gold ratio falling to 55.27. In contrast, the ratio was near 66 in June.

In other New York futures prices, January platinum added $15.10, or 0.9 percent, to $1,707.10 an ounce. It rose 1.9 percent this week and 2.9 percent in October.

Finally, the best precious metals performer was palladium. December palladiumadvanced $15.65, or 2.5 percent, to $645.10 an ounce. The metal soared 12.9 percent in October and 13.8 percent in September.

In London bullion weekly prices, the benchmark gold Fix price was $1,346.75 an ounce, up $24.25 or 1.8 percent. It gained 3.0 percent in October.

A "broad ranges and of pre-guessing the US Fed unfolded in the precious metals complex, most of it being subject once again to the fluctuations in the US dollar,"Jon Nadler, senior analyst at Kitco Metals, Inc., wrote Friday morning. "Markets were eagerly awaiting US GDP and consumer sentiment data but, to be fair, most of the ebb and flow in trading sentiment was still being dominated by one overriding preoccupation; that of what the Fed might (or might not) announce on Wednesday," Nadler added.

Silver was fixed at $23.960 an ounce for a weekly increase of 91.0 cents, or 3.9 percent. Silver advanced 8.6 percent this month.

In London PGM metals, platinum was up $27.00, or 1.6 percent, this week to $1,700.00 an ounce. It rose 2.3 percent in October. The palladium fixing was $640.00 an ounce for a weekly gain of $54.00, or 9.2%. It soared 11.7 percent in October.