Market players have been anticipating for the past month that the Spanish government would ask for a full-scale sovereign bailout.
A bailout would allow the European Central Bank to step in and buy Spanish sovereign debt, which would result in reduced borrowing costs for the debt-strapped nation.
But Spain has been reluctant to do so because it may come with conditions on its budget.
Gold prices came under additional pressure following the release of upbeat U.S. economic data, which raised concern the Federal Reserve might scale back its monetary easing measures.
Official data Friday showed that U.S. consumer sentiment rose to its highest level in five years in October. The University of Michigan said that its consumer sentiment index rose to a seasonally adjusted 83.1 from 78.3 in September, the highest level since September 2007.