Gold futures inched down today with a stronger U.S. dollar trumping a further wave of risk aversion as global equities declined taking a cue from a sharp selloff in U.S. stocks a day earlier.
December gold futures fell 0.3 percent to $1221.70 an ounce but closed the week 2.4 percent higher its first weekly gain in six weeks.
Global equities weakened. U.S. stock index futures pointed to a weaker start on Wall Street but trimmed earlier losses while the dollar rose with the ICE dollar index gaining 0.4 percent.
A stronger dollar can weigh on commodities priced in the unit by making them more expensive to users of other currencies.
In other metals December silver dropped 0.7 percent to $17.30 an ounce.
In energy trading West Texas Intermediate crude headed for the biggest weekly drop since January amid signs of a global glut. Brent the benchmark grade for more than half the world’s oil traded near a four-year low.
Brent crude oil was up at $90.17 a barrel after touching its lowest level since December 2010 at $88.11.
Light sweet crude futures for delivery in November rose 5 cents or less than 0.1 percent to settle at $85.82 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange with the contract falling 4.4% for the week its worst weekly performance on a percentage basis since early January.
The world’s two most-traded crude futures are plunging because demand growth is slowing at a time when output is expanding from countries including the U.S. and Russia the largest suppliers outside OPEC. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries increased oil production by the most in almost three years last month as Libyan output surged.
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