Gold futures fall after seven-session climb

Gold futures fell Friday morning, tracking lower crude oil as traders took in profits from a seven-session rally that lifted prices for the metal by nearly 5%.
Gold for December delivery was last down $5.40 at $605.50 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract closed at a three-week high of $610.90 Thursday with analysts betting prices have bottomed in the face of strong overseas demand.
The contract climbed for seven session in a row to tally a gain of $27.70 from the closing level on Sept. 19. A week ago, the contract closed at $595.40 and it ended last month at $634.20, so it's on track to mark a gain of around $10 for the week, but a loss of above 4% for the month.
"After going straight up after bottoming around $570, gold is deservingly taking a breather today," said Peter Grandich, editor of the Grandich Letter. The December gold contract fell to a low of $576.60 on Sept. 15.
Analysts at research firm Action Economics said the metal is consolidating after a nine-day rally, "underpinned by the recovery in oil prices, seasonal physical demand out of the world's number one importer, India."
Looking ahead, Grandich said he expects prices to "test critical resistance around $640 next month and if it breaks through, a more dramatic rise to this year's old highs around $735 are in the cards."
Crude was slightly lower Friday morning, after Nigeria dismissed reports that it's planning a production cut as part of an informal deal with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to prop up prices after recent declines. See Futures Movers.
Other metals were mixed. December silver was down 17.5 cents at $11.56 an ounce, October platinum was down $6 at $1,140 an ounce and December palladium lost $5.60 to $318.50 an ounce. December copper futures were the lone gainers among the key metals, rising 1.45 cents to $3.4425 a pound after losing almost 6 cents in the previous session.
On the supply side, gold inventories were unchanged at 7.89 million troy ounces as of late Thursday, according to Nymex data. Silver supplies fell by 35,801 troy ounces to 105.2 million and copper supplies dropped by 209 short tons to 20,646 short tons.
Metals-mining equities traded lower, with weakness in the precious metals putting weighing on the sector.
Among the notables, shares of Bema Gold (BGO : BGO
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, , ) gave back 2.5% to trade at $4.33, leading the decline in the Philadelphia Gold and Silver Index ($XAU : $XAU
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