Gold edged lower on Friday as stocks firmed and the U.S. dollar rose on expectations the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates by the end of the year.
By noon hour Friday, spot gold was down 0.1% at $1,255.55 U.S. an ounce, on track to end the week mostly flat.
Experts have suggested that spot gold may consolidate further in a narrow range of $1,250-$1,266 U.S. per ounce for one day before falling to the Oct. 7 low of $1,241.20 U.S.
Among other precious metals, silver slipped 0.2% to $17.42 U.S. an ounce, apparently headed for its third consecutive weekly loss. Platinum was down for a fifth straight session as it fell 0.4% to $932.49 U.S. an ounce and down over 3% this week.
Palladium was steady at $637.75 U.S. after having touched a new three-month low of $633.22 an ounce. The metal is down over 4% this week.
