Gold for February delivery gained $14.20, or 0.9%, to settle at $1,660.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold's gains also came as U.S. stocks slumped in the wake of a decision by House Republican leaders to back away from a proposal that included a tax hike on households earning more than $1 million a year. Gold prices finished the week with a 2.2% decline, marking four straight weeks of losses.
March silver futures rose 52 cents, or 1.8%, to end at $30.20 an ounce on Friday. Silver fell 6.2% for the week.
The ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback's performance against a basket of six other major currencies, extended gains after Boehner's Friday remarks, and rose by 0.4% for the day.
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On Friday, economic data was plentiful and most figures were reported ahead of expectations. November durable goods orders increased by 0.7%, which was better than the 0.2% increase that had been expected. This comes after the prior month's reading was revised up to reflect an increase of 1.1%. Excluding transportation related items, durable goods orders increased in November by 1.6%, which was better than the 0.2% decrease that had been broadly anticipated. Prior month's reading was revised from 1.8% to 1.9%.
Personal income increased by 0.6% in November, which was ahead of the 0.3% increase expected. Personal spending increased by 0.4%, which was ahead of the expected uptick of 0.3%. Core personal consumption expenditures were unchanged, which fell short of the broadly expected reading of 0.1%.
The University of Michigan's final December Consumer Sentiment Survey fell to 72.9 from the 74.5 that was posted in the preliminary Survey. Market had expected the reading to rise to 74.8.
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