Investing.com – Gold futures moved higher in Asian trade Thursday, as European leaders met to discuss the region’s debt crisis and ushered investors toward riskier assets.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,824.75 a troy ounce during early Asian trade, up 0.21%, after hitting a low of USDS1,818.85.
Earlier Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou spoke to concerns that Greece was in danger of default and would meet its obligations to institute austerity measure to meet its 2011-2012 fiscal targets.
European shares ended Wednesday’s session higher, with France’s CAC 40 adding 1.87% to 2,949.14, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.02% to 5,227.02, and Germany’s DAX jumped 3.36% to end the session at 5,340.19.
German lender Commerzbank said in a report late Tuesday, "The debt crisis of euro zone peripherals remains the dominant issue supporting gold”,
Wall Street shares posted gains for a third straight day, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 1.27% to 11,246.70, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.6% to 2,572.55, and the S&P 500 climbed 1.35% to close at 1,188.68.
Earlier this week, investment bank Morgan Stanley reconfirmed its bullish view on gold citing, “a formidable cocktail of macro challenges including financial systemic risk, concern of a double dip recession and sustained low interest rates.”
The lender expects gold prices to average USD1,819 a troy ounce through the end of this year and raised its 2012 forecast to USD2,085 an ounce.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery rose 0.12% to trade at USD40.79 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery added 0.33% to trade at USD3.922 a pound.