But futures gained on the week, and may be poised for further strength as investors warm to the yellow metal as an alternative asset because of the easy-money policies held by central banks on both sides of the Atlantic.
The most-actively traded gold contract, for December delivery, fell $9, or 0.5 per cent, to settle at $1,756.10 a troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Demand for safe haven assets was high ahead of today’s crucial confidence vote in the Greek parliament and after disappointing employment report release by the US Department of Labor this afternoon.
However, gold was in decline as investors opted to buy the US dollar, an alternative investment to the yellow metal, to protect wealth amid economic uncertainty.
Starting with the US, the closely watched non-farm payrolls report from the US government revealed a gain of 80,000 in payrolls for October, less than the 95,000 increase expected by analysts polled by Bloomberg.
In the meantime, Greek MPs are preparing to decide on the future of the current government led by Prime Minister George Papandreou, who yesterday scrapped plans to hold a referendum on whether Greece should remain in the euro zone.
Even though the controversial referendum that could potentially lead to the breakup of the euro zone has now been called off, continuing uncertainty in Greece makes investors reluctant to invest in riskier assets.
Gold prices slightly fell on Friday, as the strength of the U.S. dollar amid rising concerns over the European debt crisis, while the U.S. jobs report showed worse than expected job growth in October, but unemployment fell unexpectedly to 9.0%.
Nonetheless, the losses for gold prices were limited, as traders targeted gold as a safe haven amid the huge uncertainty that is surrounding the outlook for the European debt crisis, where the appeal of gold as a safe haven seems to have returned over the course of this week.
Traders will continue to monitor the developments from Europe regarding the debt crisis, especially amid the lack of major economic data from the United States, but overall, we expect gold prices to extend their rally over the coming period. For the latest updates PRESS CTR + D or visit Stock Market news Today
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