Gold was unchanged in the first hour of New York trading on Friday, but that was as good as it got, with the metal plummeting nearly $25 by mid-morning, after which a rally to the late Comex was abruptly snuffed out and the price limped to a finish at $954.60/oz., down $25.80. For the week, gold slipped 2.6%. Platinum peaked in Hong Kong, then traded choppily through the day but with a general down bias, ending at $1263, down $28. For the week, platinum was up 6.3%.

Silver was already declining when it hit the same strong morning selling as gold, and it dropped briefly below $15.20 at mid-morning, a low that it nearly revisited as it remained weak through the day to close at $15.27, down 61 cents. For the week, silver skidded by 3.4%. (Click here for charts)

The precious metals capped an up-again, down-again week by visiting