Gold futures ended lower on Friday as investors went for profit taking. Gold futures contract for December delivery declined 0.5 percent or $8.90 to $1,742.60 per ounce on Comex trading session of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Though the respective contract declined on the last day of the week but was up by 5.5 percent for the whole week. The same contract also touched its intra-day record of $1,801 per ounce on Wednesday.

Futures analyst, Frank Lesh from FuturePath Trading in Chicago commented, “We’ve come a long way with gold, and we are seeing some profit-taking in the market, we braced for the demise of an European bank, and we didn’t have that … we are unwinding that fear trade.”

Among other precious metals, silver futures contract for September delivery surged 1.2 percent or $0.44 to $39.11 per ounce. The respective contract gained 2.4 percent for the whole week.

Copper futures contract for September delivery slightly gained 0.1 percent to $4.01 per pound whereas for the whole week the contract declined 2.7percent.

Platinum futures contract for October delivery advanced 0.2 percent or $4.30 to $1,796.70 per ounce. The respective contract gained 4.5 percent for the whole week. Palladium for September delivery jumped 2 percent or $14.40 to $748.20 per ounce and advanced 0.9 percent for the whole week.