Investing.com - Gold futures edged higher on Friday, but remained close to six-month lows as news the Federal Reserve will begin tapering its stimulus program as soon as next month continued to weigh on the precious metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,194.8 a troy ounce during European afternoon trade, up 0.10%.
The February contract settled 3.35% lower on Thursday to end at USD1,193.6 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,180.35 a troy ounce, the low from June 28 and resistance at USD1,244.00, the high from December 18.
Traders were eyeing the release of U.S. gross domestic product data later in the day, after a batch of mixed economic reports on Thursday fuelled fresh uncertainty over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday that existing home sales declined 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted 4.90 million units last month from 5.12 million in October. Analysts had expected U.S. existing home sales to fall 1.5% to 5.03 million units in November.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index improved to 7.0 this month from November’s reading of 6.5. Analysts had expected the index to rise to a reading of 10.0 in December.
A separate report showed that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased by 10,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 379,000, the highest since late March.
The reports came after the Fed announced Wednesday that it would reduce its USD85 billion-a-month bond buying program by USD10 billion in January amid indications the U.S. economic recovery is deepening.
The U.S. central bank reiterated that interest rates are likely to remain low even after the unemployment rate drops below 6.5%, the threshold at which the Fed has previously said it would start to consider rate increases.
The move comes after months of uncertainty surrounding the future of the Fed's asset-purchase program. When market players started to anticipate the possibility of a reduction in stimulus early in the summer, it resulted in a sharp selloff in gold prices.
Gold is down approximately 29% this year, while silver has lost nearly 37%, as solid U.S. economic data underlined expectations the Fed will begin curbing stimulus.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery gained 0.80% to trade at USD19.340 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery advanced 0.49% to trade at USD3.312 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,194.8 a troy ounce during European afternoon trade, up 0.10%.
The February contract settled 3.35% lower on Thursday to end at USD1,193.6 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,180.35 a troy ounce, the low from June 28 and resistance at USD1,244.00, the high from December 18.
Traders were eyeing the release of U.S. gross domestic product data later in the day, after a batch of mixed economic reports on Thursday fuelled fresh uncertainty over the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
The National Association of Realtors said on Thursday that existing home sales declined 4.3% to a seasonally adjusted 4.90 million units last month from 5.12 million in October. Analysts had expected U.S. existing home sales to fall 1.5% to 5.03 million units in November.
The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said that its manufacturing index improved to 7.0 this month from November’s reading of 6.5. Analysts had expected the index to rise to a reading of 10.0 in December.
A separate report showed that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits increased by 10,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 379,000, the highest since late March.
The reports came after the Fed announced Wednesday that it would reduce its USD85 billion-a-month bond buying program by USD10 billion in January amid indications the U.S. economic recovery is deepening.
The U.S. central bank reiterated that interest rates are likely to remain low even after the unemployment rate drops below 6.5%, the threshold at which the Fed has previously said it would start to consider rate increases.
The move comes after months of uncertainty surrounding the future of the Fed's asset-purchase program. When market players started to anticipate the possibility of a reduction in stimulus early in the summer, it resulted in a sharp selloff in gold prices.
Gold is down approximately 29% this year, while silver has lost nearly 37%, as solid U.S. economic data underlined expectations the Fed will begin curbing stimulus.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery gained 0.80% to trade at USD19.340 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery advanced 0.49% to trade at USD3.312 a pound.