Gold futures wavered between small gains and losses Friday as buyers took a breather after strong recent gains spurred by the Federal Reserve’s projection of ultra-low interest rates through 2014.
Gold for February delivery dropped $1.30 U.S., or 0.1%, to $1,725.70 U.S. an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Gold surged $26.60 U.S., or 1.6%, Thursday, settling at its highest in seven weeks.
Gold prices have risen nearly 10% so far this month, including an increase of about 3.3% just this week, even as the Lunar New Year holidays deprived the metal of Chinese investor demand.
The Fed decision "awakened the positive gold sentiment" that had been underneath the surface but investors were cautious after the selloff in fourth quarter, said Jeffrey Wright, a senior research analyst with Global Hunter Securities.
Earlier Friday, investors parsed out news U.S. GDP expanded 2.8% in the fourth quarter, compared to expectations of a rise around 3%.
Other metals more linked to industrial uses, and therefore more sensitive to the GDP news, traded lower Friday, with platinum holding its ground, if barely.
March copper declined two cents, or 0.5%, to $3.88 U.S. a pound, while silver for delivery in the same month gave up 11 cents, or 0.3%, to $33.62 U.S. an ounce.
April platinum futures gained 20 cents to trade at $1,617 U.S. an ounce, while March palladium lost $6.45, or 0.9%, to $688 U.S. an ounce.
