Gold closes below 1400 dollars

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange futures settled below 1,400 U.S. dollars an ounce on Friday to cap a decline for May, the seventh monthly drop in the last eight months. The most active gold contract for August delivery fell 19 dollars, or 1.35 percent, to settle at 1,393 dollars per ounce. Gold futures dropped 5.4 percent in May, compared with the settlement of 1,472.1 dollars for the most-active contract on April 30. Friday's decline in gold could have been partly due to profit taking following some strong U.S. economic data, according to market analysts. However, gold futures have been hovering around 1, 400 dollars for some time. On Friday morning, Chicago PMI data rose to a reading of 58.7 in May, the best reading in more than a year, beating expectations of 49.9. Separately, the University of Michigan and Thomson Reuters consumer sentiment index jumped to a final May reading of 84.5, also better than forecast. The dollar reversed its decline Friday, with the ICE dollar index rising to 83.421 in recent trade from late Thursday's 83.022. Gold futures posted a loss in May, in line with the improving backdrop that is leading investors away from safe-haven assets like gold. Apart from March, gold futures have fallen every month since October. Those futures are down nearly 17 percent so far in 2013, according to FactSet data. Also on Friday, silver for July delivery fell 44.7 cents, or 1. 97 percent, to close at 22.243 dollars per ounce.