5:00AM Gold fell Friday due to profit-taking and weaker U.S. economic data.
December gold finished down $1 at $656 an ounce. Silver managed to hold its gains better than gold in spite of easing from an 8-week high of $12.65 an ounce reached during the session. September silver closed at $12.485, up 39.5 cents. October platinum ended up $9.50 at $1,256 an ounce after hitting a session high of $1,258 an ounce. September palladium ended up $2.85 at $327.50 an ounce. Speculation that the Federal Reserve may pause its interest rate hike program next week gave copper a boost to a fresh 2-week high. September copper settled up 14.30 cents at $3.6325 per pound.

September crude oil finished down 70 cents at $74.76 a barrel after falling to $74.15 per barrel earlier. The September gasoline contract settled down 6.19 cents to $2.2315 a gallon. September natural gas ended down 4.6 cents at $7.246 a million British thermal units. On the New York Board of Trade, September Arabica coffee futures ended 0.40 cent lower at $1.0545 a pound. October futures for raw sugar in foreign ports finished up 0.13 cent at 14.41 cents a pound.