NEW YORK: Gold struggled for direction in choppy trading in early New York on Friday en route to its worst week in nine months as the dollar extended its rally on the back of the US Federal Reserve's hawkish outlook.

Spot gold was little changed at $1,774.17 per ounce by 12:14 p.m. EDT (1614 GMT), stalling an initial uptick on some bargain buying. Prices were down 5.4% for the week, having slid more than 2% on Thursday.

US gold futures were flat at $1,774.90 an ounce.

Palladium was poised for its biggest weekly fall since March 2020, while silver was down 6.9% for the week. Palladium was last up 0.5% at $2,508.16 an ounce, while silver rose 0.1% to $25.95 and platinum dropped 1.6% to $1,041.54.

The Fed said on Wednesday it would consider whether to taper its asset purchases in every subsequent meeting and brought forward projections for interest rate hikes into 2023.

Traders also digested St. Louis Fed President James Bullard's comments that faster monetary tightening was a "natural" response to faster than expected economic growth and inflation.

"Markets are fearful of further Fed jawboning," said David Meger, director of metals trading at High Ridge Futures.