Gold and oil futures eased on Friday as the US dollar weakened and China produced soft third-quarter economic data.
Gold failed to get a lift from a round of weak economic data out of China or a softer US dollar as bears looked for the precious metal to continue its retreat from more-than-six-year highs set last month.
Comex gold for December delivery fell $US4.20, or 0.3%, to settle at $US1,494.10 an ounce.
That trimmed the weekly gain to about 0.4%, according to FactSet.
Comex December silver lost 3.4 cents, or 0.2%, to end at $US17.578 an ounce, for a weekly rise of 0.2%.
Comex December copper rose 1.5% to $US2.636 a pound, a rise of 0.3% for the week (because of Friday’s solid rise).
Meanwhile, oil futures finished lower on Friday, after earlier gains failed to hold, producing a loss for the week.
The weak GDP data from China added to continuing worries about weaker demand for oil and rising US stocks where the Energy Information Administration reported a recent report revealed a fifth consecutive weekly rise in US oil stocks.
The 9.3 million barrel rise (to around 435 million) was larger than expected and stocks are now ell above the average for this time of year (mid-fall).
West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery fell by 15 cents, or 0.3%, to settle at $US53.78 a barrel in New York.
That produced a weekly loss of 1.7%.
In Europe, the global benchmark, Brent crude lost 49 cents, or 0.8%, at $US59.42 a barrel, off and the current front month, December, fell 1.8% for the week.
Separately, data from Baker Hughes released Friday showed that the number of active US rigs drilling for oil rose for the second week in a row.
Baker Hughes on Friday reported that the number of active U.S. rigs drilling for oil rose by one to 713 this week. That followed an increase of two rigs a week earlier. The total active U.S. rig count, meanwhile, fell by five to 851, according to Baker Hughes.
