Silver down 19% and gold 8% in October: what bars cost in the UK
In short
- At 7:00 a.m. (Sofia time) spot gold is £2,899 an ounce and silver £36.67, the Friday close, as markets are shut for the weekend. From the 30 September close to the 30 October close, gold is down 8.0% in sterling (7.2% in dollars) and silver down 18.9% (18.2% in dollars).
- A 1 oz gold bar costs from £2,962.12 at the cheapest tracked dealer (Chards), £62.70 (2.2%) over spot. Tavex UK sells at £2,967.74 and buys back at £2,835.55, a gap of £132.19.
- The Fed held at 3.75–4.00% on 28 October by a 10–2 vote, with two officials wanting a hike, and the chance of a December hike is about 75% (FinanceFeeds).
October was a heavy month for precious metals: silver lost almost 19% in pounds and gold 8%, as markets priced a possible Fed rate rise in December. On Friday we wrote about gold falling below $4,000; here is the whole month and what bars cost now.
What happened
Gold closed on 30 October at £2,899 an ounce ($3,885), against £3,151 ($4,187) on 30 September. Silver closed at £36.67 ($49.14), against £45.24 ($60.10). Reports earlier in the week quoted a silver fall of “more than 14%”; those figures ran to Thursday, and Friday’s drop added to it.
The backdrop, according to FinanceFeeds: the Fed held rates at 3.75–4.00% on 28 October by a 10–2 vote, two members wanted a hike, US third-quarter GDP grew 3.4% annualised and core PCE was 3.1% year on year. CME FedWatch put the chance of a December hike at about 74.9%.
Silver fell furthest. The SLV silver ETF lost 13.3% between 30 September and Thursday’s close, and silver ETPs have shed about 60 million ounces this year. The gold-to-silver ratio was 77.1 on Thursday and is about 79 on our Friday-close data. Sucden expects gold around $3,900 and silver at $50–53 into December; that is that firm’s forecast, not ours.
What it means for you
The maths: one ounce of gold lost about £252 in value over the month (£3,151 to £2,899) and one ounce of silver about £8.57 (£45.24 to £36.67).
Dealers sell above spot. A 1 oz Britannia gold coin is from £2,970.80 at Chards and a full Sovereign from £705.11; a 1 oz silver Britannia is from £39.80 at Gold.co.uk, £3.13 over spot. Not every dealer publishes a buy-back price, but Tavex UK pays £2,835.55 for a 1 oz gold bar, £63.87 below spot. Dealer prices are as of about 4:19 a.m. UK time.
Live prices: gold prices in the UK, silver prices in the UK and the gold price chart.
Bottom line
Gold ended October at £2,899 an ounce, down 8.0% on the month, and silver at £36.67, down 18.9%, with the chance of a December Fed hike at about 75%. The cheapest tracked 1 oz gold bar is £2,962.12, 2.2% over spot.
Sources: FinanceFeeds
Gold prices at UK dealers live →
For information only. This is not investment advice.
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