US gold futures fell from a 16-1/4-year peak on Thursday as traders took profits from a rally above $445 an ounce amid a softer euro against the dollar and after a new much-hyped gold security launched in New York. December delivery gold slipped $3.50 to $441.60 an ounce at 10:49 am (1549 GMT) on the New York Mercantile Exchange's COMEX division, in a range between $440.20 and its overnight high at $446.40, which was futures' highest price since July 1988. "We're seeing a reasonable amount of liquidation here," a gold trader at a bank said.
Dealers previously had been positioning themselves in front of the launch on Thursday of bullion-backed exchange-traded fund streetTRACKS Gold Shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
StreetTRACKS, the first gold exchange-traded fund in the United States, listed Thursday under stock symbol GLD. It is designed to track the price of gold and trade like any common stock on the exchange.
Gold also got bit by the dollar's rise from an all-time low against the euro at $1.3074 on profit-taking in the euro and a report showing lower US weekly jobless claims.
Spot gold slid back to $441.25/2.20 an ounce, after a softer euro versus the dollar made the metal less attractive for non-US investors.
Bullion earlier hit a 16-1/4-year high at $445.90 before retreating as far as $439.65. That compared with Wednesday's New York close at $444.25/5.00 and Thursday afternoon fix in London at $442.
December silver fell 6.5 cents to $7.60 an ounce, trading between $7.75, a seven-month high, and $7.56. Spot held at $7.57/60, down from $7.63/66 previously. The fix in London was $7.66.
January platinum tumbled $16.10 at $859.50 an ounce. Spot platinum slid to $858/862. December palladium lost $3.50 to $219.50 an ounce. Spot palladium was at $215/220.