CHICAGO, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended lower for the second session on Monday, paring losses as dollar weakened on Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke's speech. Silver and platinum both fell. The most active gold contract for February delivery fell 5.50 U.S. dollars, or 0.5 percent, to finish at 1,164 dollars an ounce. During the overnight trading, dollar continued dropping to a two-week high, which dragged the precious metal to go down further. Earlier in the electronic trading, the December contract dipped to as low as 1,136.10 dollars. In a speech to the Economic Club of Washington on Monday morning, Bernanke warned that it's too soon to know whether the economic recovery will last and again pledged to hold rates at extra-low levels for an "extended period." Those words weighed much on dollar after a big rally last Friday. The dollar index, a gauge measuring the greenback's value against the other major currencies, declined to 75.585, 0.64 away from a two-week high of 76.225 set on the early morning. This encouraged investors to buy gold back as hedge assets against weakening dollar, limiting the precious metal's declines. March silver was down 16 cents to 18.36 dollars per ounce. January platinum dropped 5.10 dollars to 1,444.60 dollars an ounce.

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