Gold futures lose nearly 5% for the week

Gold futures declined Friday to post a loss of nearly 5% for the week-the largest weekly percentage loss since mid-March. Analysts attributed losses for the precious metal to strength in the U.S. dollar this week. The longer-term outlook remains positive for gold, however, "as the global economic recovery will warrant more stimulus as the Northern Hemisphere battles the winter wave of the virus," said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. "Gold will likely attract buyers from here on out as investors start scaling back their bullish bets." December gold GCZ20, -0.67% fell $10.60, or 0.6%, to settle at $1,866.30 an ounce. For the week, prices based on the most-active contract lost 4.9%, according to FactSet data.