Gold futures slipped Friday, ready to log a weekly loss as worries about demand trends played out in metals markets.
Gold for December delivery declined $1.70, or 0.1%, to $1,712.10 U.S. an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices traded more than 1% lower than last Friday’s settlement.
The moves added to a drop of $16.30, or 0.9%, to $1,713.80 U.S. an ounce Thursday after a report from the World Gold Council indicated that demand for the metal weakened in the third quarter.
Silver led the percentage losses among a broad decline for metals futures Friday. Silver for December delivery fell 43 cents, or 1.3%, to $32.24 U.S. an ounce, down over 1% for the week.
Production at the nation’s factories, mines and utilities fell 0.4% in October as Hurricane Sandy held down production in the Northeast, the Federal Reserve said Friday.
Another factor weighing on the price of precious metals has been the stronger U.S. dollar, some experts said.
On Friday, currency-market moves provided a headwind for the precious metal, as the ICE dollar index edged up to 81.376, from 81.039 in late North American trading on Thursday.
A stronger dollar tends to discourage buying as it makes dollar-denominated commodities more expensive to holders of other currencies.
