MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Prices of precious and base metals continued to drift lower on Friday in European trading hours, though selling was not as extreme as the prior, brutal session. Gold futures for December delivery GC1Z +0.56% fell $2.30 to $1,739.40 an ounce in electronic trading after settling around $1,741.70 on Thursday. The dollar index DXY -0.38% , which measures the U.S. currency against a trade-weighted basket of six other currencies, fell to 78.320 from 78.549 in late trading Thursday. December copper HG1Z -4.93% fell 22 cents, or 6%, at $3.27 a pound, after settling at $3.49 the prior session -- the lowest settlement since mid-September 2010. Silver for December delivery SI1Z -3.14% dropped $1.68, or 4.6%, to $34.88 an ounce, while platimum for October delivery PL1V -0.20% fell $15.50 to $1,695 an ounce and palladium for December delivery PA1Z -1.21% slid $13.06, or 2%, to $651 an ounce.
