Investing.com - Gold prices shot up in U.S. trading on Thursday as the dollar softened amid uncertainty over when the Federal Reserve will announce a decision to taper stimulus measures such as the central bank's monthly USD85 billion in asset purchases.
Monetary stimulus measures tend to weaken the dollar to spur recovery, which makes gold an attractive hedge.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,311.50 during U.S. afternoon hours, up 2.04%.
Gold prices hit a session low of USD1,282.20 a troy ounce and high of USD1,313.40 a troy ounce.
The December contract settled up 0.22% at USD1,285.30 a troy ounce on Wednesday.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,272.10 a troy ounce, Tuesday's low, and resistance at USD1,319.85, Monday's high.
Several Federal Reserve officials have said in recent days that they could not rule out making a decision to taper stimulus measures at the bank’s September meeting, though lackluster economic indicators out of the U.S. have some market participants betting that such a decision will come in December.
Lingering uncertainty kept the dollar weak despite better-than-expected jobless claims
The Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose by 5,000 to 333,000, better than market calls for a rise of 8,000, though the numbers failed to convince many investors that the likelihood of end of stimulus programs beginning next month is on the rise.
Elsewhere, Germany reported that June exports were up 0.6% from the previous month, better than expected.
The numbers sparked for demand for the euro that came at the dollar's expense, which was bullish for gold, as the yellow metal and the greenback tend to trade inversely with one another.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery was up 3.42% at USD20.173 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery was up 3.00% and trading at USD3.268 a pound.
Monetary stimulus measures tend to weaken the dollar to spur recovery, which makes gold an attractive hedge.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,311.50 during U.S. afternoon hours, up 2.04%.
Gold prices hit a session low of USD1,282.20 a troy ounce and high of USD1,313.40 a troy ounce.
The December contract settled up 0.22% at USD1,285.30 a troy ounce on Wednesday.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,272.10 a troy ounce, Tuesday's low, and resistance at USD1,319.85, Monday's high.
Several Federal Reserve officials have said in recent days that they could not rule out making a decision to taper stimulus measures at the bank’s September meeting, though lackluster economic indicators out of the U.S. have some market participants betting that such a decision will come in December.
Lingering uncertainty kept the dollar weak despite better-than-expected jobless claims
The Labor Department said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless claims in the U.S. rose by 5,000 to 333,000, better than market calls for a rise of 8,000, though the numbers failed to convince many investors that the likelihood of end of stimulus programs beginning next month is on the rise.
Elsewhere, Germany reported that June exports were up 0.6% from the previous month, better than expected.
The numbers sparked for demand for the euro that came at the dollar's expense, which was bullish for gold, as the yellow metal and the greenback tend to trade inversely with one another.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery was up 3.42% at USD20.173 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery was up 3.00% and trading at USD3.268 a pound.