Gold gave up early gains and ticked down on Friday ahead of talks to prevent the United States from plunging off a "fiscal cliff" of tax increases and spending cuts, but prices remained on track for their first weekly gain in a month. Gold fell $1.58 to $1,661.71 an ounce by 0649 GMT after rising to as high as $1,665.99. For the year, gold is up around 6 percent, but well below a record of around $1,920 hit in September 2011, when a worsening debt crisis in Europe sparked a buying rush.