The risk appetite that has helped propel gold to a string of record highs this week is easing, keeping the metal trading near steady in New York futures activity Friday morning.
Participants are taking a breather from buying gold, which has been helped as investors have been selling the U.S. dollar and buying traditionally shorter-term riskier assets like the precious metal and equities.
In recent trading, December gold was down $1.80 at $1,104.80 U.S. an ounce while the lightly traded nearby November contract was one dollar lower at $1,105 U.S. on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The Dollar Index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies, was down 0.096 point at 75.500 points while the euro was near unchanged against the dollar.
