By Polya Lesova, MarketWatch FRANKFURT (MarketWatch) -- Gold and other metals futures fell on Friday, as China's hike of reserve requirement ratios triggered a rally in the U.S. dollar and a sell-off in commodities. Gold for April delivery, the most actively traded contract, dropped $9.90, or 0.9%, to $1,084.80 an ounce in electronic trading on Globex. The People's Bank of China said Friday it will raise the ratio of reserves banks must set aside by 0.5 percentage points, the second such move this year. Following the news, the U.S. dollar rallied against its major rivals, while stock futures and commodities fell. See China lifts reserve ratio. China is one of the world's biggest consumers of commodities, so the move to slow down its growth has raised concerns about a decline in its appetite for commodities. The dollar index (DXY 80.54, +0.54, +0.68%) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, rose 0.6% to 80.555. Dollar strength typically weighs on dollar-denominated commodities such as gold and oil, because it makes them more expensive for holders of other currencies. Also on Globex Friday, March silver futures fell 18 cents to $15.41 an ounce and March copper futures declined 7 cents, or 2.2%, to $3.063 a pound. Gold futures rose 1.7% on Thursday to end at $1,094.70 an ounce. "We expect geo-political tensions, inflation and sovereign debt concerns to continue to draw investment interest," said James Moore, an analyst at TheBullionDesk.com. "However, until gold can break the negative chart outlook, established since the record peak in December, the metal is likely to remain vulnerable to a deeper correction," Moore said in a note to clients.

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