Gold fell on Friday, moving in sync with riskier assets, as fresh worries about the eurozone bailout fund and a lacklustre US nonfarm payrolls report were on track to snap the metal's three-day winning streak. Bullion came under pressure as the eurozone won verbal support but no new money at a Friday's G20 summit for its tortured efforts to overcome a sovereign debt crisis.
The metal - a traditional safe haven which has recently taken to tracking riskier assets - fell with US equities after data showed US hiring slowed in October but the unemployment rate hit a six-month low, pointing to some improvement in the still-weak labour market. "We are holding technical support at the 25-percent Fibonacci retracement at $1,747 an ounce. Risk is coming off because some people think everything is going to be fine, and others who think gold is going to explode next week," said COMEX gold options floor trader Jonathan Jossen.
The metal was poised for its second consecutive weekly gain, helped by renewed safe-haven buying amid uncertainty to the future of the European Union. Margin-related selling also pressured gold as commodity brokers raced to bring on board thousands of customers of bankrupt rival MF Global. They are now facing a deadline to see trading positions and collateral frozen since Monday being margined or liquidated.
Spot gold fell 0.5 percent to $1,753.69 an ounce by 1:19 pm EDT (1719 GMT). US gold futures for December delivery were down $9.70 to $1,755.40 an ounce Silver was down 1.1 percent at $34.08 an ounce, platinum was off 0.3 percent to $1,629.49 an ounce and palladium was up 0.2 percent at $653.97.
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