By Neils Christensen 
Friday February 03, 2017 15:49

 (Kitco News) - Central banks were a major focus this week as the Federal Reserve held its first monetary policy meeting of the year.

The meeting was pretty much a nonevent and as a result, gold managed to push to a 12-week high. Traders gauged that the Fed is in no hurry to raise interest rates, although the market continues to expect three hikes this year.

But, that isn't enough to keep a good market down…

Gold is ending the week just off those highs despite the fact that 227,000 new jobs were created in January, significantly beating economist expectations. April gold futures settled Friday at $1,220.80 an ounce, up 2.5% on the week.

Continuing on the theme of central banks, Sarah Benali’s interview with Johns Hopkins professor Steve Hanke garnered a lot of attention this week as he advises central bankers to buy gold as a protection against global risks.

However, it appears that central banks are not heeding his advice…

The WGC reported Friday that central bank purchases fell to their lowest level in 6 years in 2016. While central banks are expected to remain net buyers of gold, the WGC said that there is a slowing trend as nations dip into their foreign reserves to defend their currencies against a strong U.S. dollar.

But enough about central banks.

It’s Super Bowl weekend and that means all eyes are on the silver market… Okay, maybe not all eyes but everyone will be waiting to see who will hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy at the end of the day. This year, Kitco News reached out to Tiffany &Co., the creator of the trophy for the past 50 years, to find out just how much silver it actually has. Don’t miss Daniela Cambone’s interview with Vicky Reynolds, a senior director for the jewelry company.