Gold on Friday fell to the lowest in a week, the biggest weekly drop since February on speculation a strengthening dollar and US economy will curb demand for a protection of wealth.

The gold fell 0.9 per cent to $1,547.45 an ounce.

Prices reached $1,545.16 and are down 2.1 per cent this week. Silver also lost 1 per cent to $27.37 an ounce.

The dollar rose 0.5 per cent versus the euro today and US equities reached a record yesterday as data showed US jobless claims fell more than estimated last week.

Minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting released April 10 showed several members were in favour of pulling back on its $85 billion monthly debt—buying programme this year.

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