Gold ends lower as dollar recovers, oil tumbles

European traders also reported that producers were struggling to keep up with demand for some finished products.

Among other precious metals, silver closed lower at $13.33/13.37 an ounce from its Thursday U.S. finish of $13.80/13.87 an ounce.

Spot platinum ended lower at $1,428.50/1,448.50 an ounce from $1,449.50/1,469.50 an ounce late in New York, having hit a one-week high of $1,472.50 earlier on Friday.

Its sister metal palladium inched down to $283.50/291.50 an ounce from its previous finish of $286.00/294.00 an ounce.

Both the platinum group metals are recovering after suffering a major sell-off in the wake of a spate of bad financial reports from carmakers, who consume around half of the world's platinum each year.

"Platinum has had a disastrous July and early August as fears over a collapse in global car sales ... completely overshadowed the few reminders of the metal's precarious supply situation," said Fortis Bank in a monthly report.

(Editing by Jim Marshall)