Gold drops almost $7 in New York

Precious metals prices fell Friday on lower prices for crude oil and as analysts and traders became less convinced that the Federal Reserve will cut US interest rates next week.

February gold was down $6.90 to $800.20 per troy ounce in New York trade, a decline of 0.9 percent.

However, gold still finished the week 1.4 percent higher was up 27 percent on the year so far before today’s session.

March silver dropped 11 cents to $14.52 per troy ounce but is up 12 percent on the year to date, while January platinum fell $8 to $1,462.20 per troy ounce.

Meanwhile, among base metals March copper added 8 cents to $3.13 per pound in New York, a gain of 2.5 percent on the session after the Labor Department reported that 94,000 jobs were created in the US in November.

The job growth helped calm fears of a coming recession, while the announcement Thursday of a plan to freeze interest rates on some subprime mortgages also helped push prices higher.

In London, three-month copper added $185 to $6,910 per tonne, or $3.14 per pound.