Gold rebounded on Friday in New York on bargain hunting by consumers and bullish investors, enjoying extra buying late in the session from a bomb scare near the US Capitol building in Washington D.C.
Copper meanwhile fell another 4 percent from recent records, before recovering to end unchanged on bargain hunting.
Gold for December delivery ended up $5.90 at $469.10 an ounce at the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract has snapped back since plumbing a 3-1/2 week low on Thursday at $462. Only eight days earlier it reached its highest level in 18 years at $480.25 an ounce. The last $4 of Friday's rally came around midday on news that Capitol Police had questioned two men and destroyed a suspicious package in their car after the pair suggested the vehicle contained an explosive device.
Many gold players feel that growing concerns about inflation and US economic growth arising from high energy costs should help gold rally up toward $500, a key psychological level, for the first time since December 1987.
Buying from bullion consumers in India, the world's largest market for gold, usually picks up at this time of year, ahead of India's festival and wedding season.