Investing.com - Gold futures edged higher on Friday, but remained close to four-month lows as expectations for the Federal Reserve to soon begin tapering its asset-purchase program continued to weigh.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,246.2 a troy ounce during European afternoon trade, up 0.23%.
The December contract ended 1.14% lower on Thursday to settle at USD1,243.6 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,235.90 a troy ounce, Thursday's low and resistance at USD1,275.70, the high from November 20.
Gold prices remained under pressure after positive U.S. data on Thursday fuelled further expectations the Fed coul begin scalin back its stimulus program in the next months.
Preliminary data showed that U.S. manufacturing activity improved to an eight-month high of 54.3 in November from a reading of 51.8 in October.
A separate report showed that the number of people filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, beating expectations for a decline of 9,000.
The minutes of the Fed's October meeting showed earlier in the week that the central bank could start scaling back the USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in the “coming months” if the economy continues to improve as expected.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery rose 0.27% to trade at USD19.987 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery added 0.25% to trade at USD3.200 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,246.2 a troy ounce during European afternoon trade, up 0.23%.
The December contract ended 1.14% lower on Thursday to settle at USD1,243.6 a troy ounce.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,235.90 a troy ounce, Thursday's low and resistance at USD1,275.70, the high from November 20.
Gold prices remained under pressure after positive U.S. data on Thursday fuelled further expectations the Fed coul begin scalin back its stimulus program in the next months.
Preliminary data showed that U.S. manufacturing activity improved to an eight-month high of 54.3 in November from a reading of 51.8 in October.
A separate report showed that the number of people filing for initial jobless benefits last week fell by 21,000 to a seasonally adjusted 323,000, beating expectations for a decline of 9,000.
The minutes of the Fed's October meeting showed earlier in the week that the central bank could start scaling back the USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program in the “coming months” if the economy continues to improve as expected.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery rose 0.27% to trade at USD19.987 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery added 0.25% to trade at USD3.200 a pound.