Gold / Silver / Copper futures - weekly outlook: November 25 - 29

New York (Nov 24)  Gold futures ended Friday's session little changed near a four-month low, amid growing concerns the federal Reserve could begin to slow its bond-purchasing program as soon as December.

Gold prices have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the Fed would start tapering its USD85-billion-a-month asset-purchase program by the end of the year.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery inched up 0.04% on Friday to settle the week at USD1,244.10 a troy ounce.

The December contract fell to USD1,235.80 a troy ounce on Thursday, the lowest since July 9, before settling at USD1,243.60, down 1.14%.

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,214.55 a troy ounce, the low from July 8 and resistance at USD1,275.70, the high from November 20.

On the week, the precious metal tumbled 3.36%, the biggest weekly loss in ten weeks.

Sentiment on the precious metal turned bearish after Wednesday's minutes of the Federal Reserve's October meeting said the central bank could start scaling back its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in the "coming months" if the economy continues to improve as expected.

The U.S. is to release a series of reports on the housing sector, as well as data on consumer confidence and durable goods orders in the coming week.

Market players have closely been looking out for U.S. data reports recently to gauge if they will strengthen or weaken the case for the Fed to scale back stimulus.

Gold prices are down approximately 27% this year on concerns the Fed would start tapering its USD85-billion-a-month asset-purchase program by the end of the year.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery settled 0.36% lower on Friday to close the week at USD19.86 a troy ounce.

Silver prices fell to USD19.70 a troy ounce on Thursday, the lowest since August 8, before ending at USD19.93, down 0.62%.

Silver future prices lost 4.15% on the week, the fourth consecutive weekly decline.

Meanwhile, copper for December delivery rose 0.7% on Friday to close the week at USD3.214 a pound, after stronger-than-forecast German business confidence data indicated that the economic recovery in the euro zone is gaining traction.

On Thursday, copper futures rallied 1.01% to settle at USD3.191 a pound, after stronger-than-expected U.S. economic data eased concerns over the health of the U.S. economy.

On the week, Comex copper prices advanced 1.33%.