Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled lower Friday, failing to draw safe haven support from a sizable fall in new U.S. home sales for December.

The most active gold contract for February delivery fell 13.3 dollars, or 0.8 percent, to settle at 1,656.6 dollars per ounce. The contract price, which dropped 1 percent Thursday, was 1.8 percent lower for the week or the lowest price settlement since Jan. 9.

Market analysts say the fact that there were too many long positions building up in gold and silver by retail investors, and the inability to break past 1,700 U.S. dollars for gold and 32.6 U. S. dollars an ounce for silver resulted in a sell off on the day.

According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, sales of new single-family homes fell 7.3 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 369,000 in December, which, however, provided little support for gold Friday,along with a lack of investment demand for the precious metal.

Silver prices fell 2.3 percent for the week, or traded about 3. 2 percent higher for the year to date, while trading of gold futures has suffered a loss of 1.2 percent in prices since the start of the year.

Given the backdrop, silver for March delivery fell 51.6 cents, or 1.63 percent, to close at 31.206 dollars per ounce.