Gold Gives Up Gains on U.S. Data

Gold lost some of its early gains on Friday as the American dollar strengthened after strong U.S. economic data suggested a brightening outlook for the world's largest economy.

U.S. retail sales jumped 1.3% last month, the largest gain since March 2015 and a bigger rise than the 0.8% expected by economists.

Experts reported that spot gold, which rose 1% in early trade, cut gains to $1,272.26 U.S. an ounce, up just 0.7%.

That left gold down 1.7% this week, the biggest weekly decline since the last full week of March. U.S. gold for June delivery settled up $1.50 at $1,272.70 U.S. and was last up 0.12% to $1,273.60 U.S. an ounce.

The shiny yellow metal had gained 20% this year after a series of weak economic data in the United States and elsewhere eased expectations of a near-term increase in U.S. interest rates.

Moreover, spot silver moved ahead 0.8% to $17.09 U.S. an ounce, platinum rose 0.5% to $1,049 U.S. and palladium was down 0.4% to $590.70 U.S.

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