Gold futures fell by as much as $22 U.S. an ounce Friday as strength in the U.S. dollar helped dull demand for the precious metal, which has already seen prices climb over the past three sessions.
Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s could move as early as Friday to downgrade euro-zone countries, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing European Union sources.
Gold for February delivery fell by as much as $22 U.S. to touch a low of $1,625.70 U.S. an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was last at $1,628 U.S., down $19.60 U.S., or 1.2%.
Futures prices had tallied a three-session gain of 2.5% and were still poised to end the week around 1% higher.
On Friday, the dollar index, which tracks the U.S. unit against a basket of six major rivals, reversed Thursday’s losses and traded at 81.709, up 1.1% late Thursday as the euro extended its losses against the greenback. Read more on currencies.
Demand for gold, which is traded in U.S. dollars, tends to weaken when the dollar strengthens.
The wider metals complex tracked gold lower, with palladium posting the heaviest losses.
March palladium dropped $16.25 U.S., or 2.5%, to $625 U.S. an ounce, while April platinum fell $24.30 U.S., or 1.6%, to $1,475.80 U.S. an ounce.
Silver for March delivery lost 65 cents U.S., or 2.2%, to $29.48 U.S. an ounce. On Thursday, silver climbed to a four-week high but got pulled down Friday as some traders booked profits, said analysts at Commerzbank in a note.
March copper gave up seven cents, or 1.8%, to $3.58 U.S. a pound
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