Investing.com - Gold prices carried Thursday's losses into Friday as the dollar continued to firm on expectations that U.S. monetary stimulus programs will wrap up next month, while benchmark interest rates will climb next year.
Gold and the greenback tend to trade inversely with one another.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at 1,216.50 a troy ounce during U.S. trading, down 0.85%, up from a session low of $1,214.90 and off a high of $1,229.10.
The December contract settled down 0.73% at $1,226.90 on Thursday.
Futures were likely to find support at $1,182.00 a troy ounce, the low from Dec. 31, 2013, and resistance at $1,243.20, Tuesday's high.
The dollar earlier firmed on expectations for U.S. and European monetary policies to diverge, which came at gold's expense.
Earlier this week, the Federal Reserve suggested it plans to close its bond-buying stimulus program next month and hike interest rates in 2015.
While some time will pass between those two policy moves, rate hikes could come quickly once the U.S. central bank moves to tighten, many investors have concluded, which bolstered the greenback and softened demand for the yellow metal.
Meanwhile across the Atlantic, the euro came under pressure after the European Central Bank on Thursday said it allotted €82.6 billion to 255 bidders in its new Targeted Long Term Refinancing Operation, or TLTRO. The figure was well below the €100 to €150 billion predicted by analysts.
The European Central Bank recently cut interest rates and announced it would purchase asset-backed securities to stimulate the economy, which has softened the euro, which has made the dollar an attractive buy.
Meanwhile, silver for December delivery was down 3.75% at $17.822 a troy ounce, while copper futures for December delivery were down 0.14% at $3.090 a pound.