Gold eased on Friday, under the weight of the stronger dollar, and was set for its largest weekly decline since mid-December after an aggressive sell-off earlier in the week, although investors showed no loss of appetite for the metal. Gold eased on Friday, under the weight of the stronger dollar, and was set for its largest weekly decline since mid-December after an aggressive sell-off earlier in the week, although investors showed no loss of appetite for the metal. Gold priced in euros rose 0.4 percent on the day to 1,294.23 euros an ounce, but was still set for a 1.8 percent fall this week. The decline across the precious metals complex has been felt more acutely in gold, which traded at a premium of just $10 to platinum, having boasted a premium in excess of $200 at the end of last year. Platinum has benefited from concern about supply disruption in South Africa, while upbeat U.S. auto sales data this week helped. "I'm of the opinion that gold's premium over platinum should be corrected in due time, but I didn't expect it to come so quickly," said Yuichi Ikemizu, head of commodity trading, Japan, at Standard Bank. The focus remains on Impala Platinum, the world's second-largest platinum producer, which has suffered 120,000 ounces of lost production in a six-week-long strike at its key Rustenburg mine. Operations there are set to resume next week but the company said it was still unsure when full production would be regained.

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