Investing.com - A soft weekly jobless claims report released in the U.S. on Thursday fueled already growing expectations for the Federal Reserve to continue stimulating the economy with monthly asset purchases and sent gold posting strong gains in afternoon trading.
Stimulus tools often weaken the dollar to drive recovery, making gold an attractive hedge.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,350.00 during U.S. afternoon hours, up 1.20%.
Gold prices hit a session low of USD1,330.40 a troy ounce and high of USD1,351.90 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,310.10 a troy ounce, Tuesday's low, and resistance at USD1,375.10, he high from Sept. 19.
The December contract settled down 0.64% at USD1,334.00 a troy ounce on Wednesday.
The Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits declined by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000. Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to fall by 22,000 to 340,000 last week.
Earlier this week, the Department of Labor reported that U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, well below expectations for an increase of 180,000.
After digesting the latest data, investors avoided the dollar and snapped up gold positions on expectations for the Federal Reserve to continue stimulating the economy with its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases that drive down interest rates to spur recovery, weakening the greenback in the process.
Gold and the dollar tend to trade inversely with one another.
Many in recent weeks were expecting the Fed to announce plans to taper its asset purchases in late October or early December, though soft jobs data now have market watchers pushing back estimates for a start date to tapering into 2014.
Elsewhere, a separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted USD38.8 billion in August from a deficit of USD38.6 billion in July. Economists had forecast a deficit of USD39.5 billion.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery was up 0.82% at USD22.803 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery was down 0.07% and trading at USD3.265 a pound.
Stimulus tools often weaken the dollar to drive recovery, making gold an attractive hedge.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,350.00 during U.S. afternoon hours, up 1.20%.
Gold prices hit a session low of USD1,330.40 a troy ounce and high of USD1,351.90 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,310.10 a troy ounce, Tuesday's low, and resistance at USD1,375.10, he high from Sept. 19.
The December contract settled down 0.64% at USD1,334.00 a troy ounce on Wednesday.
The Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits declined by 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000. Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to fall by 22,000 to 340,000 last week.
Earlier this week, the Department of Labor reported that U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, well below expectations for an increase of 180,000.
After digesting the latest data, investors avoided the dollar and snapped up gold positions on expectations for the Federal Reserve to continue stimulating the economy with its USD85 billion in monthly bond purchases that drive down interest rates to spur recovery, weakening the greenback in the process.
Gold and the dollar tend to trade inversely with one another.
Many in recent weeks were expecting the Fed to announce plans to taper its asset purchases in late October or early December, though soft jobs data now have market watchers pushing back estimates for a start date to tapering into 2014.
Elsewhere, a separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened 0.4% to a seasonally adjusted USD38.8 billion in August from a deficit of USD38.6 billion in July. Economists had forecast a deficit of USD39.5 billion.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery was up 0.82% at USD22.803 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery was down 0.07% and trading at USD3.265 a pound.