By Claudia Assis, MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Gold and other metals futures sank on Friday on uncertainty about European Union financial support for Greece, which gave another boost to the dollar.
Gold for April delivery was down $1.40, or 0.1%, at $1,126.50 an ounce in electronic trade. For the week, however, gold remains 2% higher.
"There's still a lot of concern surrounding Greek debt" putting pressure on gold, said London-based analyst James Moore, with TheBullionDesk.com. But "investors are still looking at gold and diversifying away from some of the European concerns," he added.
The dollar index (DXY 80.62, +0.39, +0.49%) , which measures the U.S. unit against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, rose to 80.58.
A stronger dollar tends to weigh on commodities as it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies. It also reduces gold's appeal as a hedge against weaker currencies.
"Gold prices have been quite resilient to the dollar's strength and since its weakest point in early January the dollar has gained 6% against the euro while gold prices have lost just 1%," Barclays Capital said in a research report this week.
