NEW YORK (Commodity Online) : Oil managed to finish almost steady for the week Friday in New York while gold dropped sharply on profit selling. Light sweet crude for May delivery was seen trading at $105.40 a barrel at close of trade here while London’s Brent North Sea crude for delivery in May was down 13 cents to $115.59 a barrel. Gold for April delivery was at $1426.20 an ounce on the comex closing while March contract was down at $1426.10 an ounce. The price has climbed 30 per cent in the past 12 months. Analysts said gold began losing dominance after a US data showed country’s gross domestic product rose at an inflation-adjusted annual rate of 3.1 per cent in the October to December period. Stronger-than-forecast US economic data prompted traders to book gains from record prices set earlier in the week, they added. US economy grew at an annual rate of 3.1 per cent at the end of last year. That was up from last month's estimate of 2.8 per cent. Silver prices also dipped as investors buy riskier assets following the positive report on the US economy. Silver futures for May delivery dropped 32.6 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to $US37.049 an ounce. Silver hit $38.18 an ounce Thursday, the highest in 31 years. The metal jumped 5.7 per cent this week and has more than doubled in the past year. They said the black gold however managed to end without much losses as concerns over unrest in Libya and the Middle East continued to support it. The market is closely following the level of gasoline reserves ahead of the summer driving season in the United States starting in May, when many Americans hit the roads on holiday, pushing up fuel demand.

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