Gold Slips Amid Profit-Taking After Positive Economic Data
Dow Jones Newswires</br></br>NEW YORK -- Gold prices on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange embarked on a declining path Friday as initial buying inquiries dried up and light week's-end profit-taking took center stage.</br></br>The most-active December contract settled $4.20 lower, at $405.40 an ounce. The nearby-month benchmark contract was at $403.30, down $4.10.</br></br>Gold prices got off to a firm start at the $410 mark, as traders initially proved reluctant to part with the metal ahead of the release of U.S. gross-domestic-product data at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time.</br></br>While GDP, or the value of all goods and services produced in a nation, increased at a slower-than-forecast 2.8% rate in the second quarter, global currency investors interpreted the growth reported in consumer and business spending as positive for the U.S. currency and so shoved it higher as the session wore on. This, in turn, tarnished gold's appeal as an alternative to the dollar and spurred light speculator and bank sales.