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Gold prices drifted lower on Friday, as the dollar remained fairly steady despite not making any significant progress above the flat line. However, with U.S. stocks losing ground amid slightly fading optimism about trade after reports said the Trump administration officials are discussing ways to limit U.S. investors' portfolio flows into China, gold prices came off the day's lows.

The dollar index, which eased to 98.99, recovered to 99.13 as the session progressed. Gold futures for December ended down $8.80, or about 0.6%, at $1,506.40 an ounce, after having slipped to a low of $1,493.30 earlier in the session.

On Thursday, gold futures for December ended up $2.90, or about 0.2%, at $1,515.20 an ounce, after having plunged 1.8% a session earlier. For the week, gold futures shed 0.6%. Silver futures for December ended down $0.260, at $17.652 an ounce, while Copper futures for December settled at $2.5975 per pound, gaining $0.0200 in the session.

In U.S. economic news, a report released by the Commerce Department said durable goods orders unexpectedly rose by 0.2% in August after jumping by 2% in July. The continued increase surprised economists, who had expected orders to pull back by 1%. Another report from the Commerce Department showed U.S. personal income rose in line with economist estimates in the month of August, climbing by 0.4%, after ticking up by 0.1% a month earlier.

Meanwhile, the report said personal spending crept up by 0.1% in August after climbing by 0.5% in July. Spending had been expected to rise by 0.3%. A report from the University of Michigan said consumer sentiment in the U.S. rebounded by more than initially estimated in the month of September, and showed a notable increase from a three-year low of 89.8 in August. The report said the consumer sentiment index for September was upwardly revised to 93.2 from the preliminary reading of 92.0. Economists had expected the index to be unadvised.