Gold futures fell by more than $40 U.S. an ounce on Friday, as the U.S. dollar extended its rally against the Japanese yen.
BNP Paribas cut its view on gold prices, but said the metal will be trading back above $1,600 U.S. an ounce in six months.
June gold futures fell $43.30, or 2.9%, to $1,425.30 U.S. an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The precious metal sliced a weekly gain to a loss of 2.7%, on the heels of two straight winning weeks.
Following better-than-expected jobless-claims data on Thursday, the U.S. dollar climbed above ¥100 for the first time since April 2009, and extended those gains on Friday, trading around ¥101.57.
A stronger dollar also tends to hurt prices for dollar-denominated commodities such as gold as it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Gold on Thursday fell $5.10 U.S., or 0.4%, extending losses after the claims data, which follows payrolls data from a week ago that showed the economy added 165,000 jobs in April, and that the unemployment rate slipped to 7.5% from 7.6%.
The Federal Reserve has indicated it may taper monetary stimulus depending on improvement in the labor market. The Fed’s quantitative-easing program has been a benefit for gold, as QE tends to pressure the dollar and can lead to inflation. Gold is often seen as an inflation hedge.
Meanwhile, silver for July delivery on Friday fell 63 cents, or 2.7%, to $23.26 U.S. an ounce, and copper for July delivery was flat at $3.34 U.S. a pound. June palladium fell $13.60, or 1.9%, to $701.15 U.S. an ounce. July platinum tumbled $29.30, or 1.9%, to $1,487.20 U.S. an ounce.
Palladium prices were on track for a weekly rise of 1.1%, but platinum was looking at a 0.9% drop and copper was higher by 0.9%. Silver prices were poised for a loss of 3% for the week.
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