By Chris Oliver, MarketWatch
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Gold futures traded weaker Friday afternoon in east Asia as attention focused on the shrinking window of opportunity U.S. lawmakers have to forge an agreement and avoid sending the economy off the fiscal cliff.
Congressional leaders are due to meet with President Barack Obama at the White House later in the U.S. day as part of a last-ditch effort to avert the fiscal cliff. That’s the automatic tax increases and spending cuts that take effect at the start of the year if the president and Congress can’t agree on a budget deal. See related story on President Obama calls Hill leaders for While House talks
Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi are expected to attend the meeting.
Gold for February delivery GCG3 -0.25% fell $2.70, or 0.2%, to $1,661.10 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Friday’s pullback comes on the heels of a rise in regular U.S. trading Thursday, where the contract settled up $3, or 0.2%. The metal pared gains from earlier in the session after the U.S. Labor Department said applications for unemployment benefits fell last week to one of the lowest levels of the year.
Among other metals trading Friday, March silver SIH3 -0.45% futures fell 10 cents, or 0.3%, to $30.14 an ounce.
Chris Oliver is MarketWatch's Asia bureau chief, based in Hong Kong.
