Gold prices subsided on Friday, reflecting tension between an easier global interest rate backdrop and the chance of U.S. monetary policy being tightened before the end of the year.
Spot gold shed 0.5% to stand at $1,323.72 U.S. an ounce, on a path for a weekly decline of about 1% U.S. gold was down 0.6% at $1,323.40 U.S. an ounce. Gold futures settled on Friday at $1323.40 U.S. an ounce.
Bullion hit its highest in two years this month — as central banks from Europe to Japan were choosing to keep policy looser for longer, thus neutralizing the opportunity cost of holding an asset that does not pay interest.
However, the U.S. dollar has gained ground recently on strong readings on the U.S. labour market and inflation, boosting bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will raise rates stateside by year-end.
In other metals, spot palladium fell 0.1% to $682.00 U.S., having touched its highest since late October 2015 the previous day.
Spot silver, which fell to its lowest in nearly two weeks on Thursday, was down 0.6% at $19.63 U.S. an ounce while spot platinum lost 1.8% to $1,077.60 U.S.
