US gold futures eased but held above $450 an ounce on Friday morning, as the dollar's fall after an unexpectedly weak US payrolls report for November failed to trigger much buying, traders said. Silver had trouble holding above $8 an ounce, due to fund and trade selling, as markets digested the employment numbers, while platinum slipped from Thursday's eight-month peak.
"Gold's still following the dollar," said a desk trader. "Crude oil is sitting against its lows and the dollar is still weak, so the macroeconomic indicators are conflicting," he added. "But I am cautiously bullish."
By 10:27 a.m. EST (1527 GMT), February gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division was off $1.20 at $451.10 an ounce, moving from $450.50 to $455.50.
The price was well below Thursday's 16-year high for futures at $458.70.
Analysts have said a correction lower in gold was to be expected after it made fresh highs almost daily in the past two weeks in a rally sparked by concerns about the falling dollar.
The dollar dropped to within a whisker of record lows against the euro on Friday, after a surprisingly soft 112,000 new US jobs were created in November, the weakest figure since July and well below Wall Street expectations of 180,000.
The jobless rate was 5.4 percent, matching forecasts.
Gold prices have gained strength from the strongest bull move in commodities since the 1980s as well as from its role as a store of value amid economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
Crude oil's sharp decline this week seemed to sap interest in gold as an alternative investment. Oil fell to almost $42 a barrel Friday.
Spot gold fetched $448.00/8.70, versus Thursday's late quote in New York at $449.70/0.40. Friday's afternoon London fix was at $448.65.
Brokers pegged support in gold at $450 and $448, with resistance at $460.
March silver futures lost 6.0 cents to $7.90 an ounce, trading from $8.08 to $7.87. The contract hit an eight-month high at $8.235 Thursday and peaked this year at $8.50 in April.
Spot silver touched $7.81/84, down from $7.87/90 previously. The London fix was at $7.83.
In platinum, dollar strength overnight fuelled profit-taking in Japan, before prices recovered a bit in London.
"Basically, it's tracking gold and silver right now," an analyst at a precious metals refiner said.
January platinum fell $12.70 to $871.50 an ounce, after spiking to $887 on Thursday - its highest since April. Spot platinum traded to $868.00/872.00. March palladium rose 85 cents to $209.90. Spot palladium touched $205/210.
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