Gold drops to negative territory on the day as shorter-term futures traders take profits

Gold prices have quickly dropped from double-digit gains seen just a short while ago to double-digit losses in active trading late Friday morning.

The big downdraft in prices is likely mostly due to the shorter-term futures traders booking some profits heading into the weekend, following the strong gains seen this week in gold. Also, the U.S. stock market has come well up from its daily lows, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average paring its daily losses by half. Still, it’s a long way to the close of trading Friday. Don’t be surprised if gold prices make a recovery from the morning sell off. April gold last down $16.40 at $1,651.50.