COMEX gold, silver end 2016 up; first annual gains in four years

(Reuters) - The most active COMEX gold futures contract finished 2016 up 7.1 percent as compared to the end of 2015 after strong gains on economic uncertainty earlier in the year were pared by heavy selling as the U.S. dollar rallied following the U.S. presidential election.

The most-active gold futures contract on Friday settled down $6.4 or 0.6 percent at $1,151.70 an ounce.

The most-active silver futures contract closed down 1.4 percent on Friday at $15.99 an ounce, but up 13.8 percent for the year versus last year. This is also the white metal's first annual rise in four years.

 

(Reporting by Koustav Samanta and Vijaykumar Vedala in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese)