New Delhi, May 15 -- Precious metals continued to drift lower on Friday, 15 May, as a strengthening US dollar and persistent US inflation dampened expectations of near-term Federal Reserve rate cuts. Meanwhile, traders also appeared to be booking profits following the recent rally that had pushed silver to multi-month highs.

Comex gold prices dropped $171 per troy ounce, hitting a two-week low and extending losses for the second straight session. Silver plunged even further, falling $9.16 per troy ounce to the day's low of $76.17 per ounce, as rising oil prices erased much of the white metal's recent gains.

With today's sharp decline, both metals are on track to close the week with heavy losses, with gold down 4.15% and silver falling 5...