Investing.com - Gold futures edged higher on Thursday, trading close to the highest level since mid-December as investors continued to focus on developments surrounding the euro zone’s ongoing sovereign debt crisis.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,664.05 a troy ounce during early European morning trade, adding 0.25%.
It earlier rose by as much as 0.35% to trade at a session high USD1,666.65 a troy ounce, just below a five-week high of USD1,667.95 it hit on Tuesday.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,643.15 a troy ounce, the previous day’s low and resistance at USD1,681.55, the high of December 13.
Greece’s government was due to resume talks with its bond holders later in the day to discuss a voluntary write-down on Greece’s sovereign debt.
Greece needs to secure an agreement on restructuring its debt in order to secure new bailout funds and avert a default when a EUR14.4 billion bond redemption comes due on March 20.
The New York Times reported earlier that a number of hedge funds which have large exposure to Greek sovereign debt were planning to sue the debt-stricken country if losses are forced upon them.
Markets were also eyeing government debt sales from France and Spain later in the day, in what was being viewed as a critical test of investor's appetite for European sovereign debt.
Bond auctions have become key drivers of risk sentiment in recent months, as traders attempt to gauge the ability of indebted euro zone nations to fund themselves.
Meanwhile, Swiss lender Credit Suisse lowered its average gold price forecast for 2012 to USD1,755 per ounce from USD1,850, while maintaining its bullish view, saying the precious metal has recovered from its end-2011 corrections and is likely to return to its long-standing upward price trend.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery rose 0.6% to trade at USD30.72 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery rallied 1.2% to trade at a four-month high of USD3.798 a pound.
Credit Suisse said that it expected silver prices to average USD32.80 a troy ounce, saying that the metal should perform well, benefiting from both a rising gold price and an improvement in risk appetite.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for February delivery traded at USD1,664.05 a troy ounce during early European morning trade, adding 0.25%.
It earlier rose by as much as 0.35% to trade at a session high USD1,666.65 a troy ounce, just below a five-week high of USD1,667.95 it hit on Tuesday.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,643.15 a troy ounce, the previous day’s low and resistance at USD1,681.55, the high of December 13.
Greece’s government was due to resume talks with its bond holders later in the day to discuss a voluntary write-down on Greece’s sovereign debt.
Greece needs to secure an agreement on restructuring its debt in order to secure new bailout funds and avert a default when a EUR14.4 billion bond redemption comes due on March 20.
The New York Times reported earlier that a number of hedge funds which have large exposure to Greek sovereign debt were planning to sue the debt-stricken country if losses are forced upon them.
Markets were also eyeing government debt sales from France and Spain later in the day, in what was being viewed as a critical test of investor's appetite for European sovereign debt.
Bond auctions have become key drivers of risk sentiment in recent months, as traders attempt to gauge the ability of indebted euro zone nations to fund themselves.
Meanwhile, Swiss lender Credit Suisse lowered its average gold price forecast for 2012 to USD1,755 per ounce from USD1,850, while maintaining its bullish view, saying the precious metal has recovered from its end-2011 corrections and is likely to return to its long-standing upward price trend.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for March delivery rose 0.6% to trade at USD30.72 a troy ounce, while copper for March delivery rallied 1.2% to trade at a four-month high of USD3.798 a pound.
Credit Suisse said that it expected silver prices to average USD32.80 a troy ounce, saying that the metal should perform well, benefiting from both a rising gold price and an improvement in risk appetite.