Gold dips on profit taking

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dropped on profit taking Friday, but ended the week with a gain of 3.7 percent. The most active gold contract for December delivery slipped 8.4 dollars, or 0.63 percent, to settle at 1,314.6 dollars per ounce. After gold posted a sharp gain of 3.17 percent Thursday, some short-term investors began to take profit Friday, and a downside technical correction has ensued. Data from China released Friday offered little support to gold. Though China\'s gross domestic product grew 7.8 percent in the third quarter of this year, the fastest growth in the year, an unexpected fall in exports in September, and slowed growth in factory output and retail sales suggested that the economy has already slowed down at the end of the quarter. Gold holdings in SPDR Gold Trust fell by 3.3 tonnes to 882.23 tonnes on Thursday from Wednesday. It started the month with its gold holdings at 905.99 tonnes. After weighing the impact of the U.S. government\'s 16-day shutdown on economy, some market analysts predicted that gold has found a short-term bottom. Silver for December delivery dropped 3.4 cents, or 0.15 percent, to close at 21.913 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery rose 2.9 dollars, or 0.2 percent, to close at 1,437.8 dollars per ounce.