WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold futures settled lower on Friday, weighed down by a stronger U.S. dollar and rising bond yields.
The strength in stock markets amid continued optimism about economic growth weighed as well on the yellow metal.
The dollar index, rebounding from recent weakness, advanced to 92.41 in early New York session before paring some gains. It was last seen at 92.17, up 0.12% from previous close.
Gold futures for June ended down $13.40 or about 0.8% at $1,744.80 an ounce.
Despite closing the day on a weak note, gold futures gained nearly 1% this week.
Silver futures for May ended lower by $0.260 at $25.325 an ounce, while Copper futures for May settled at $4.0400 per pound, down $0.0545 from previous close.
Data from China showed consumer prices rose 0.4% year-on-year in March in that country, exceeding expectations for an increase of 0.3%. China's National Buereo of Statistics also said that producer prices jumped an annual 4.4% in March - beating expectations for an increase of 3.5% and up sharply from the 1.7% gain a month earlier.
On the U.S. economic front, the Labor Department released a report showing producer prices jumped by much more than expected in the month of March.
The Labor Department said its producer price index for final demand surged up by 1% in March after climbing by 0.5% in February. Economists had expected another 0.5% increase.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX