US gold futures fell for the third straight session on Friday to close at a nine-day low, as a resurgent dollar pressured the precious metal that only a week ago shot to eight-month highs, dealers said.
A stronger oil price during the day failed to boost gold's safe-haven appeal among investors as the market continued to mirror the decline seen in the euro over the week.
December delivery gold on the New York Mercantile Exchange was down $2.50, or 0.6 percent, to end at $442.20 an ounce, its weakest settlement since August 10, after whipping around in a range between $446 to $441.
On the week, gold futures shed 2.1 percent, or $9.20.
Gold continued a volatile week of trading with another choppy session, and analysts said the market was looking for a place to call a bottom as the euro too was on its way down.
"Gold broke down through support at $444.50, so we settled on the negative side, and that's slightly bearish," said Scott Meyers, an analyst at Pioneer Futures.
"The overall chart pattern is bearish to neutral, because of the way it closed. There's another gap from $440.90 to $440, which could come into play next week," added Meyers.
A trader said that after several days of euro weakness, holders of long positions in gold likely continued to take profits following gold's rally to above $455 last week.
"This is a lot of technically oriented trading," he said, noting currencies were gold's main driver currently.
The euro slipped to a more than two-week low against the dollar after a robust US factory survey backed the view that the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates.
The Philadelphia Fed said Thursday its business activity index jumped in August to a four-month high.
The dollar has risen about 10 percent this year.
A stronger dollar weighs on gold, which largely is priced in dollars globally, because it becomes costlier in key overseas trading areas like Europe and Asia.
The euro last was worth $1.2163, from $1.2179 previously.
No major US economic data are due until Wednesday.
US crude rallied back above $65 a barrel from around $62.35 Thursday. Higher crude prices sometimes lift gold because the metal is often bought as an inflation hedge.
Chartists saw support in COMEX December gold at $441 and then at $440, with resistance at $452 and then at last Friday's eight-month high of $455.30.
Spot gold sagged to $436.90/437.70 an ounce, from Thursday's late New York quote at $439.20/440.00. Friday's afternoon fix in London hit $439.25.
September silver rose 1.0 cent to end at $7.008 an ounce, in a range of $6.955 to $7.03.
Speculators in silver futures are starting to roll September positions into next active December before delivery period starts next month.
Spot silver reached $6.99/7.02 an ounce, up a touch from $6.98/7.01 late on Thursday. It fixed at $6.995.
On the board at NYMEX, October platinum lost $3.70 to end at $889.30 an ounce. Spot platinum hit $886/889.
September palladium eased 75 cents to $183.10 an ounce. Spot fetched $181/185.
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