Gold up 4th straight week, Deutsche quits gold price-setting

By Frank Tang and Clara Denina

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Gold rose on Friday as weakness in U.S. equities, strong fund buying and Asian physical demand lifted bullion to its fourth consecutive weekly gain.

The market was surprised by news of Deustche Bank withdrawing from gold and silver benchmark setting, or fixing, as German regulators investigate suspected manipulation of precious metals prices by banks.

Deutsche, one of five banks involved in the twice-daily gold fix for global price setting, said Friday it was dropping out of the process after withdrawing from the bulk of its commodities business.

Gold's recent rise has been supported by a drop in equities early in 2014 following a record run-up in stocks last year. However, analysts said that a rising interest-rate environment and a better economic outlook could pressure gold.

"In the long run, we are likely to see selloffs in gold especially with more Fed tapering later this year," said Thomas Capalbo, a precious metals trader at Newedge, a brokerage in New York.

Spot gold, which fell initially, climbed 0.8 percent to $1,252.11 an ounce by 2:45 p.m. EST (1945 GMT).

For the week, it was up 0.5 percent, extending its weekly winning streak to four - its longest rise since September 2012.

U.S. gold futures for February delivery settled up $11.70 at $1,251.90 an ounce, with trading volume about 40 percent below its 250-day average, preliminary Reuters data showed.

Gold rose on Friday against the headwinds of a stronger dollar after fresh U.S. data supported the view the world's largest economy is improving enough to keep the Federal Reserve's stimulus-reducing measures on track.

Data showed U.S. industrial output rose at its fastest clip in 3-1/2 years in the fourth quarter as factory activity closed out the year on a strong note, a sign of the economy's brightening prospects.

PHYSICAL BUYING

In China, physical gold premiums on the Shanghai Gold Exchange rose on Friday. Buying from China, the world's biggest gold consumer, has been robust in recent weeks ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday on January 31.

Among other precious metals, silver rose 1.2 percent to $20.29 an ounce.

Platinum group metals were supported by supply worries as members of the South Africa's Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union voted in favour of a strike over wages at the world's third-biggest platinum producer Lonmin .

Platinum gained 1.7 percent to $1,448.99 an ounce, while palladium was up 0.5 percent to $743.50 an ounce.

(Additional reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi in Singapore; editing by William Hardy, David Evans and Meredith Mazzilli)