Gold, silver close week up

Gold picked up $4.90 and settled at $1,730.90 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange Friday amid concerns about the U.S. economy. The higher closing price also reflects investors betting on strong demand from India and China. "We've ended the week with a sense of continuity [because of the election], though this is mixed in with the realization that the [U.S.] fiscal cliff is just up ahead," Ben Traynor, chief economist at BullionVault, told MarketWatch.com. Expectations of huge demand from India Sunday because of the Dhanteras festival also was given as a reason for gold's price rise, said Chintan Karnani, chief analyst at Insignia Consultants in New Delhi. "U.S. fiscal woes have also resulted in safe-haven demand not just in [the United States] but globally," Karnani told MarketWatch in an email. Commerzbank analysts, in a report released Friday, also highlighted strength in gold demand in China. Silver rose 36 cents to $32.60 an ounce. The euro was $1.2715 Friday from $1.2746 Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was 79.50 Friday from 79.46 yen Thursday.