Gold rises 10% in 2011 for 11th yearly gain

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold prices extended their winning run to an 11th year on Friday despite a year-end pullback, gaining 10 percent from 2010 as investors sought refuge from the euro zone debt crisis amid worries about global growth.

U.S. February gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled up $25.90 from the previous day at $1,566.80, ending the year on a positive note as the metal rebounded from Thursday's sharp losses.

At the end of 2010, gold closed at $1,419.45 an ounce. Gold is one of the best-performing commodities of 2011, even though it recorded its smallest annual gain in three years.

Bullion fell heavily in December, pushing the metal to the brink of a bear market, as hedge funds scrambled for cash to meet client redemptions and European banks trimmed their gold holdings to raise capital.

Managed money's bullish futures position was at its lowest since early 2009, a sign that investors were bailing out of the market, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.

The metal enters the new year on an uncertain footing and appears to have lost its safe-haven status, with analysts not expecting gold to retest all-time highs until late 2012 at the earliest.

(Reporting By Frank Tang; Editing by Dale Hudson)