Precious metals turn pale

Bullions also register modest weekly losses

Gold and silver futures at Comex slipped on Friday, 02 March 2012 as the U.S. dollar pushed higher and investors sold the metals alongside other assets considered riskier such as stocks and oil.

Gold futures for April delivery ended $12.40, or 0.7%, lower at $1,709.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. On the week, gold was down 3.7%, off nearly $70 per ounce.



Silver for May delivery dropped $1.14, or 3.2%, to settle at $34.56 an ounce on Friday. On the week, silver lost 2.2%.

The pullback in metals came as the dollar index, which measures the greenback's performance against a basket of six currencies, rose by 0.6%. The dollar gained against the euro and most major rivals after January data on retail sales in Germany came in weaker than expected.

The euro also got hit over bad news from Spain, which reported an increase in jobless claims in February. In addition, the Spanish government raised its budget deficit target to 5.8% of gross domestic product for 2012, compared with 4.4% in previous forecasts.