Gold News & Info

Source: Marketwatch.com

San Francisco— Gold futures prices fell Friday to mark a three-session loss — down almost $6 for the week, but still up about $18 over the month-ago close.

"The gold market has been taking two steps forward and one back ever since bottoming in 2001," said Peter Grandich, editor of the Grandich Letter. Given that, "the correction underway should come as no surprise and be considered healthy for those of us who have long targeted $500 an ounce."

Gold for December delivery traded as low as $468.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest since Oct. 5. It closed down $2 at $471.80. It finished down $5.90 an ounce, or 1.2%, below its week-ago close of $477.70.

Overall strength in the U.S. dollar has been dulling investment interest in the metal, but following a tamer-than-expected U.S. September core consumer inflation figure Friday, the greenback is "showing some serious signs of fatigue," said Dale Doelling, chief market technician at Trends In Commodities.

U.S. consumer inflation surged at the fastest pace in more than 25 years in September, rising a bigger-than-expected 1.2%, the Labor Department said Friday.

For now, the gold "market is just biding its time and, if the dollar does start to unravel, then I'll be looking for gold to quickly move to $500," Doelling said.

As for economic concerns,"the market isn't actually fearful of a slide toward recession, but there is a sense that the growth needed for inflationary conditions could be lacking, if the recent soft spot extends into the months ahead," Nell Sloane, an analyst at NSFutures.com said in a note to clients.

"Therefore, the market needs a bullish lift from the headlines or gold could continue to chop back toward the consolidation lows down around $467.40," she said.

Silver gains for the week