Precious Metals Fall, Gold Has Worst Week Since December

Precious metals capped off a challenging week with further losses on Friday amid a further advance in the U.S. dollar.

COMEX gold futures, per the April contract, settled lower by $12.40, or 0.7%, at $1,709.80 per ounce.  For the week, the yellow metal fell 3.7% – its worst such stretch since mid-December 2011.

Silver for May delivery on the COMEX closed with a daily loss of $1.14, or 3.2%, at $34.56 per ounce.  Over the past five days, gold’s sister precious metal dropped 2.2% – marking its worst week since the final one of 2011.

The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) climbed 0.8% to 79.408 this afternoon, its highest level of the week.

Among other precious metals, platinum dipped 1.4% on the week to finish at $1,691.70 per ounce while palladium rose 0.3% to $712.55 per ounce.

As for cyclical commodities, copper advanced 1.0% to $3.90 per pound while crude oil slid 2.8% to $106.70 per barrel.

Source; http://www.goldalert.com/2012/03/precious-metals-fall-gold-has-worst-week-since-december/