Gold fell in tandem with riskier assets on Thursday, as disappointing economic data from China and weaker US equity markets, driven by bank worries, dampened buying sentiment across the board. Optimism about a plan to tackle Europe's debilitating debt crisis prompted gold, traditionally a safe haven, to move in sync with equities and commodities.
The precious metal is up around 1.5 percent over the past four sessions, but was pressured on Thursday by the dollar's rise. Spot gold was down 0.8 percent at $1,662.99 an ounce by 2:08 pm EDT (1808 GMT), having come off an overnight high at $1,683.89. US gold futures for December delivery settled down $14.10 at $1,668.50 an ounce.
Trading has been extremely thin all week at less than half of its 30-day norm, indicating a lack of commitment from bullion investors. Silver fell 2.9 percent to $31.62 an ounce, declining in tandem with the base metal complex led by copper. Among platinum group metals, palladium, of which China is a key consumer for its the auto industry, fell 2.7 percent to $588.22.
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