Gold futures edge lower as oil adds 1%

NEW YORK (July 13) Gold futures ended a four-day winning run, finishing with a modest loss.

August gold skidded 0.2 percent to settle at $1,277.60 an ounce Friday on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Prices scored a 5.4 percent gain for the week, their best weekly performance in almost two years.

Gold declined as a stronger dollar reduced demand for an alternative investment.

The U.S. dollar strengthened against most major peers as investors bet the Federal Reserve will withdraw stimulus faster than the European Central Bank. The dollar appreciated 0.3 percent to $1.3064 per euro at 1:33 p.m. in New York.

Elsewhere in metals, silver futures for September delivery slid 0.8 percent to $19.792 an ounce in New York, cutting the weekly gain to 5.6 percent.

Platinum futures for October delivery inched down less than 0.1 percent to $1,406.90 an ounce. Palladium futures for September delivery rallied 0.7 percent to $722.90 an ounce.

In energy markets, crude gained on Friday on bets U.S. inventories will decline for a third week following the largest two-week drop in inventories in at least three decades.

Crude for August delivery rose 1 percent to settle at $105.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The two-week decrease in crude stockpiles was the biggest since at least 1982, according to EIA, the Energy Department’s statistical arm.