NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Good news on the labor front pumped up stock prices and the U.S. dollar Friday morning, which drew money out of the red-hot gold market, at least for the moment.
Gold for December delivery fell below the $1,200-per-ounce level. In trading on the Comdex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, the contract lost $22.70 to $1,194.70 an ounce. Gold for February delivery, meanwhile, the most heavily traded contract, fell $22.90 to $1,195.40. Intraday, the price has gone as high as $1,213.90 and as low as $1,186.30.
On Thursday, gold reached record highs, continuing its staggered climb northward.
But data from the Labor Department, which registered far fewer job losses in November than experts were expecting, proved too buoyant a signpost for investors to ignore. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged more than 100 points immediately after the opening bell, while the S&P 500 spiked by more than 12 points.
The greenback, meanwhile, strengthened against a range of foreign currencies -- the dollar index was up 0.5% -- and other safe-haven assets declined in value along with gold, including the benchmark 10-Year Treasury.
Gold-mining stocks, which are leveraged to the price of the yellow stuff, also took it on the nose Friday. Shares of Barrick Gold(ABX Quote), which recently unwound its hedge book, exposing itself fully gold prices, were tumbling nearly 6% early in the session, while Newmont Mining(NEM Quote) was trading lower by 3%.
