(Recasts, adds comments, updates prices)
* U.S. stocks gain on positive virus drug update
* Gold up about 1.4% so far this week
* Silver on track for 5th straight weekly rise
By Shreyansi Singh
July 10 (Reuters) - Gold fell on Friday as gains in U.S. equities trimmed flows into bullion, which was still on track for a fifth straight weekly gain after soaring to its highest in nearly nine years this week on surging COVID-19 infections.
Spot gold prices XAU= slid 0.3% to $1,797.89 per ounce by 3:13 p.m. EDT (1913 GMT). U.S. gold futures GCv1 settled down 0.1% at $1,801.9.
On a weekly basis, gold has gained more than 1.4% after rallying to its highest since September 2011 at $1,817.71 on Wednesday.
"Gold has risen quite a bit in the past week along with exponential flows in the ETFs," said George Gero, managing director at RBC Wealth Management. GOL/ETF
"Now that the weekend is approaching with a strong equity market, investors are taking advantage and booking profit to take positions in riskier assets."
U.S. stocks advanced on Friday as a positive update from Gilead (NASDAQ:GILD)'s antiviral drug to treat COVID-19 countered nerves over a record rise in U.S. coronavirus cases. .N
More than 60,500 new COVID-19 infections were reported across the United States on Thursday, according to a Reuters tally, the largest one-day increase in any country since the pandemic emerged in China last year. its pullback on Friday, the non-yielding metal has risen over 18% so far this year. yields are still declining more than the inflation expectations are declining, and that's been the driver behind gold, and why we're seeing these kind of whip-saws on the day," said Daniel Ghali, commodity strategist at TD Securities.
Limiting bullion's losses, 10-year U.S. Treasury yields US10YT=RR dropped to their lowest since late April. US/
In other metals, silver XAG= was little changed at $18.66 an ounce. It jumped to its highest since September 2019 on Thursday, putting it on track for a fifth straight week of gains.
Palladium XPD= gained 1.3% to $1,968.01 per ounce, platinum XPT= was down 1.9% at $817.94 per ounce.