Gold faces second weekly drop

Gold was steady on Friday after two consecutive sessions of losses, but the metal was headed for its second weekly drop in three on growing optimism about the U.S. economy and selling in the top bullion-backed exchange-traded fund.

Spot gold was flat at $1,283.66 an ounce by 0034 GMT, after falling 0.6 percent in the previous session. The metalis down 1.6 percent for the week. Silver, with a 3 percent loss, is headed for its worst weekly performance in six weeks.

SPDR Gold Trust said its holdings fell 2.39 tonnes to 785.55 tonnes on Thursday, after losing 4.19 tonnes on Wednesday.

Investors resumed dumping gold holdings this week after the Federal Reserve looked past a dismal reading on first quarter U.S. growth and gave a mostly upbeat assessment of the economy’s prospects as it announced another cut in its massive bond-buying stimulus.