Tokyo gold futures fell slightly on Friday, pressured by profit-taking after rising for the past four days, but underlying sentiment was bullish with investors keen to test the key contract above a 14-year high.
Tokyo Commodity Exchange palladium futures, which had climbed more than 10 percent in the last week until on Thursday, fell slightly on a correction, although they were also vulnerable to speculative sales amid a lack of distinct buying factors.
"It's about time to see some correction in palladium, but the fate of palladium depends on how gold moves," said Shoji Sugata, assistant manager at Mitsubishi Corporation Futures, saying US economic data and the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting next week would be in focus.
"Gold could be range-bound next week ahead of US jobs figures and the FOMC, but gold is still bullish." Benchmark October TOCOM gold futures closed down five yen, or 0.28 percent, at 1,762 yen per gram.
Other contracts closed down one to five yen. At one point on Friday, the key contract climbed to a fresh one-and-a-half-week high of 1,769 yen.
TOCOM gold had gained steadily since the start of the week, rising 2.3 percent from Monday's close of 1,730 yen. Investors are keen to test the key contract above a 14-year high of 1,771 yen reached in mid-October.
Spot gold was trading at $474.00/474.70 an ounce, up slightly from New York's $473.50/474.30. In New York, the yellow metal gained more than $3 after a weaker dollar sparked fund buying.
Gold touched a high of $475.60 on Thursday but faced stiff resistance at that level. Dealers were awaiting quarterly growth data for the US economy later on Friday, which could provide new direction for bullion. US third-quarter GDP, due, likely rose 3.6 percent, speeding up from 3.3 percent in the previous quarter, according to a Reuters poll.
October platinum futures closed down 11 yen, or 0.32 percent, at 3,464 yen per gram from Friday. They had moved in a range of 3,447 to 3,467 yen.
Other platinum contracts closed down nine to 19 yen. Speculators are keen to push up the benchmark contract to a record high of 3,520 yen, but the market is nervous about taking big positions ahead of an interim report by London-based precious metals refiner Johnson Matthew on November 15. Benchmark October TOCOM palladium closed at 841 yen per gram, down three-yen or 0.36 percent from Thursday's settlement.
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