Crude futures plunged last week, in line with many commodity prices, amid evidence of an economic slowdown in the United States and a lowering of tensions in the Middle East, analysts said.
But nickel prices hit a fresh historic record on keen demand, while coffee soared on concerns over stretched supplies. On Friday, the Commodities Research Bureau's index of 17 commodities fell to 330.62 points, from 346.30 points the previous week.
He said this was because of "the recent reduction in safe-haven concerns, coupled with a reduction in (US) inflation woes as oil prices soften".
The precious metal usually benefits from its safe-haven status in times in geopolitical instability, while gold is also seen as a good hedge against increasing costs.
On the London Bullion Market, gold prices dropped to 613.90 dollars per ounce at Friday's late fixing, from 644.50 dollars a week earlier.
On the London Bullion Market, silver prices fell to 12.01 dollars per ounce at Friday's fixing, from 12.27 dollars the previous week.
"Our technical analysts remain sceptical over prospects for further gains, citing the lack of strong price action in other precious metals as an important negative factor limiting the potential for further upside," Barclays Capital said in a note.
On the London Platinum and Palladium Market, platinum stood at 1,217 dollars per ounce at the late fixing Friday, from 1,245 dollars the previous week.
Palladium rose to 334 dollars per ounce on Friday from 321 dollars the previous week.
Nickel, a metal used to help prevent corrosion, hit 29,200 dollars per tonne on Wednesday on the London Metal Exchange (LME).
Sucden analyst Michael Davies said that he expected the market to test the 30,000 dollar per tonne level.
Adding to bullish sentiment are supply disruptions in the form of a strike at Inco's 54,000-tonne-per-year Voisey's Bay nickel mine in Canada.
Meanwhile copper prices slid in reaction to a surprise increase in LME copper stocks, but falls were limited by the closure of the Escondida mine in Chile, the world's biggest copper mine, in a dispute over pay.
On Friday, three-month copper prices on the LME fell to 7,481 dollars per tonne from 7,910 dollars the previous week.
Three-month aluminium prices rose to 2,484 dollars per tonne from 2,564 dollars.
Three-month nickel prices soared to 28,400 dollars per tonne from 27,200 dollars.
Three-month lead prices advanced to 1,204 dollars per tonne from 1,190 dollars.
Three-month zinc prices decreased to 3,295 dollars per tonne from 3,430 dollars.
Three-month tin prices eased to 8,425 dollars per tonne from 8,450 dollars.
Prices sank around four dollars over the course of the week to reach two-month lows. New York crude fell below the 70.0 dollar mark on Friday to lows last seen on June 21.
News of the Middle East truce on Monday made traders re-assess their fears of a wider regional conflict affecting oil shipments. Added to the picture, the market was calmed by news that BP would continue pumping 200,000 barrels per day at the Prudhoe Bay oil field, which normally makes up 8.0 percent of total US production.
Losses increased after a series of US economic releases confirmed a slowdown in the US economy, which dampened prospects for crude demand because the United States is the world's biggest oil consumer, dealers said.
And the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Wednesday cut its forecast for world oil demand by 80,000 barrels per day. The 11-nation cartel said demand would average 84.5 million bpd in 2006.
Crude futures staged a slight rebound on Friday as traders switched their focus to the nuclear energy crisis in Iran. Iran, the world's fourth biggest crude oil producer, has until August 31 to halt its uranium enrichment programme or face the threat of UN sanctions. At about 1600 GMT on Friday in New York, a barrel of crude for delivery in September sank to 69.90 dollars per barrel from 74.10 dollars the previous week.
In London, a barrel of Brent North Sea crude for delivery in October slumped to 71.92 dollars per barrel, from 75.99 dollars.
On TOCOM, Tokyo's commodity exchange, natural rubber for January delivery fell to 252.80 yen per kilogramme on Friday, from 266.50 yen a week earlier.
Singapore's RSS 3 December contract slid to 215.25 US cents per kilogramme on Friday, from 229 US cents a week earlier.
On the New York Board of Trade (NYBoT), the December contract slid to 1,543 dollars per tonne on Friday, from 1,602 dollars a week earlier.
On Liffe, Robusta quality for November delivery gained to 1,460 dollars per tonne on Friday, from 1,408 dollars a week earlier.
On NYBoT, Arabica for December delivery slid to 106.90 US cents per pound on Friday, from 108.80 cents.
"The market remains under pressure from low physical demand amid plentiful supplies," added Davies.
On Liffe, the price of a tonne of white sugar for October delivery dropped to 378 dollars, from 407 dollars a week earlier.
On NYBot, the price of unrefined sugar for October delivery declined to 12.25 US cents per pound, from 13.40 cents.
On the Chicago Board of Trade, the price of wheat for September delivery fell to 3.61 US dollars per bushel on Friday, from 3.77 dollars a week earlier.
Maize for September delivery decreased to 2.18 dollars per bushel on Friday, from 2.29 dollars.
September-dated soyabean meal - used in animal feed - dipped to 5.49 dollars per tonne on Friday, from 5.55 dollars.
On the Liffe, the price of a tonne of wheat for November delivery firmed to 82.00 pounds on Friday, from 81.25 pounds.
On the New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE), the December contract stood at 54.80 US cents per pound on Friday, from 55.85 US cents a week earlier.
The Cotton Outlook Index of physical cotton eased to 59.85 US cents on Thursday, from 59.90 US cents a week earlier.
The Australian Eastern index closed at 7.45 Australian dollars per kilo on Thursday, from 7.42 the previous week.
The British Wooltops index stood at 401 pence on Thursday, unchanged from the previous Thursday.