Oct. 7, 2011, 3:09 p.m. EDT

Gold, silver end lower, break 4-week losing streak
Downgrades for Italy, Spain fail to ignite safe-haven buying

By Claudia Assis and Simon Kennedy, MarketWatch

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures ended lower Friday, snapping a two-day winning streak as investors shied away from the metal amid a lack of catalysts to spur flight-to-safety buying.

Commodities and stocks got an early a boost from a better-than-expected report on the U.S. job market, but that lift was short-lived as traders looked closer at the numbers.

Debt downgrades for Italy and Spain brought back fears about Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis, but the news, coming late in gold’s session, failed to boost bullion prices.

Gold for December delivery /quotes/zigman/661658 GC1Z -0.82% lost $17.40, or 1.1% to $1,635.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. On the week, however, gold gained 0.8%, which snapped a four-week losing streak for the metal.

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Other metals ended the day mostly lower, with silver leading losses. Copper bucked the trend, however, ending higher.

December silver /quotes/zigman/663010 SI1Z -2.69% declined $1.01, or 3.2%, to $30.99 an ounce. On the week, silver rose 3%, also breaking away with losses in the four previous weeks.

Copper /quotes/zigman/635638 HG1Z +1.25% for December delivery added 3 cents, or 0.8%, to end at $3.27 a pound. Weekly gains for copper reached 3.8%. Like silver and gold’s weekly gain, copper’s snapped losses for four weeks in a row.

Gold and most commodities have been trading sideways in recent sessions.

“There hasn’t really been a catalystâ€