SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Gold futures ended higher for a second straight session Friday, finding support from strength in physical demand for the metal after a tumultuous week that ended with a loss of 7% in prices.

Gold for June delivery GCM23, rose $3.10, or 0.2%, to settle at $1,395.60 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, coming off an intraday high of $1,424.70.

They lost $105.80 an ounce from last Friday’s close of $1,501.40 to mark the metal’s fourth-weekly loss in a row. On a percentage basis, that was the biggest weekly loss for a most-active contract since the week ended Sept. 23, 2011, according to FactSet data.

Still, prices managed to recover some ground after falling to a closing low of $1,361.10 on Monday.

Why copper's decline is a worry

“We have to respect the significant technical selling that occurred over the past week, even though gold has recovered a portion of that loss in subsequent trading days this week,” said Scott Carter, chief executive offer of Los Angeles-based Lear Capital, which helps investors diversify their portfolios with the purchase of precious metals.

“With Gold up over 400% over the past decade, it’s a bit premature to write its obituary,” he said.

The talk of demand for physical gold has been growing since the selloff in gold futures last Friday and on Monday. Losses during those two sessions resulted in a drop of more than $200 an ounce in prices for the precious metal.

The market attributed the declines to everything from a lowered gold price forecast from Goldman Sachs and other banks and drops in gold holdings among exchange-traded funds to worries about central-bank gold sales in the wake of talk that Cyprus may sell some gold to aid in its financial bailout.

Gold futures are set for a loss of more than 6% on the week. AFP/Getty Images

The market is seeing selling of gold exchange-traded funds, “while there is enormous, I would call it intense, demand for the physical metal itself worldwide,” said Gene Arensberg, editor of the Got Gold Report. “It’s like there are several years worth of pent up bargain-hunting demand for gold turning loose with gold at or below $1,400.”

Commerzbank analysts, citing data from the U.S. Mint, said that 153,000 ounces of U.S. gold coins have been sold since the month began. “This means that the current month has already achieved the highest sales volume of any month since December 2009,” the analysts said.

The gold market will also look to data from the Commitments of Traders report due out late Friday from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

“The CFTC’s data on market positioning ... will show the extent to which money managers withdrew from gold in the wake of the crash at the start of the week,” said analysts at the Commerzbank, in a note Friday.

The key “will be the changes in the level of gross shorts held by speculators (managed money) and whether the hedgers still have the lowest number of hedges since the 2008 panic,” said Arensberg.

Lack of bull signs

Overall sentiment in the gold market has been hit hard by the recent losses.

“Investors are fearing that gold will witness another wave of selling once Asian demand for gold wanes,” said Chintan Karnani, an independent bullion analyst based in New Delhi.

Investors “want clear signs of a bull run in gold, which is not there at the moment,” he said.

On a technical level, “gold and silver are at a juncture where they need to break and trade” over $1,430 and $23.70, respectively, for further gains, Karnani said.

On Friday, May silver US:SIK3 shed on 29 cents, or 1.2%, to $22.96 an ounce, the lowest close for a most-active contract since Oct. 2010. Prices were almost 13% lower for the week for their sixth-weekly loss in a row.

Barclays on Friday lowered its forecasts on gold prices, expecting them to average $1,483 an ounce in 2013 and $1,450 in 2014. In March, it cut its outlook for this year by 7.4% to $1,646, according to Dow Jones.

For copper, demand remained a big worry for traders, who dragged the price lower after Thursday’s modest climb.

The most-active May copper contract HGK23, closed down 6 cents, or 1.8%, cents, at $3.15 a pound. Prices ended 6% lower than last Friday’s close.

Front-month April copper US:HGJ3 fell 1.7%, or 5.3 cents, to settle at $3.15 a pound. The contract is down more than 20% from its Feb. 2012 high of $3.9785, placing the metal in bear-market territory, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

“Ironically, the selloff in copper due to weakening Chinese demand expectations comes as Chinese physical demand is actually strengthening,” said analysts at Barclays, in a note Friday.

They expect base-metals prices to “bounce” in the second quarter and favor selling rallies.

July platinum futures US:PLN3 also fell by $5.10, or 0.4%, to $1,429 an ounce, losing 4.8% for the week. Palladium for June delivery US:PAM3 rose $7.25, or 1.1%, to $677.05 an ounce, down 4.5% on the week.