Investing.com - Gold rebounded in Asia on Friday on physical demand prospects as holidays approach in India and buying picks up for expected year-end events as well.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at $1,242.00 a troy ounce, up 0.24%, after hitting an overnight session low of $1,235.80 and off a high of $1,250.80.
Overnight, gold prices slipped as investors avoided the yellow metal ahead of the Federal Reserve's statement on monetary policy meeting next week, which many bet will see further cuts to the U.S. central bank's monthly bond-buying program.
A lackluster report on weekly U.S. jobless claims was viewed by investors as unlikely to sway the Federal Reserve from moving towards tighter monetary policy.
The U.S. Department of Labor reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the week ending Sept. 6 increased by 11,000 to a 10-week high of 315,000 from the previous week’s revised total of 304,000.
Analysts had expected jobless claims to fall by 4,000 to 300,000 last week, and the figure gave investors room to sell the greenback for profits.
Despite disappointments here and there, U.S. economic indicators collectively point to a recovery that is gaining steam.
Still, losses were somewhat limited, as expectations for physical demand to rise in Asia due to seasonal factors gave the commodity some support.
Silver for December delivery was up 0.48% at $18.688 a troy ounce. Copper futures for December delivery were down 0.05% at $3.092 a pound.
On Friday, more heavy-hitting data will publish.
The U.S. is to release data on retail sales, the government measure of consumer spending, which accounts for the majority of overall economic activity.
The U.S. is also to release what will be closely watched preliminary data on consumer sentiment.