Friday, November 20, 2009

U.S. dollar weighs on gold futures

Gold futures turned lower Friday as a stronger dollar reduced the investment appeal of the metal, which nonetheless remained on track to end with a third straight week of gains.

Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, lost 0.2% to $1,139.70 U.S. an ounce. The thinly traded November contract also lost 0.2% to stand at $1,139.60 U.S.

Both contracts are set to end the week up more than 2%.

In foreign-exchange trading, the U.S. dollar rose against most rival currencies, with the dollar index up 0.5% to 75.698.

Despite the gain, the dollar remained relatively weak in this week's trading. Gold had recorded a long winning streak in the previous five sessions, with the December contract at one point topping $1,150 U.S. an ounce.

Holdings in SPDR Gold Shares, the biggest gold exchange-traded fund, stood at 1,117.49 metric tonnes as of Thursday, unchanged from a day ago.

Other metals also moved lower Friday. December silver sank 1.2% to $18.241 U.S. an ounce, December palladium dropped 2.6% to $360.15 U.S. an ounce, and January platinum fell 0.6% to $1,434.90 U.S. an ounce.

December copper edged 0.1% lower to $3.077 U.S. a pound.