Forexpros – Gold futures held steady during U.S. morning trade on Monday, as ongoing speculation that central banks around the world would soon announce fresh stimulus measures to help spur weak global growth continued to support the precious metal.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,622.75 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, adding 0.15%.
It earlier rose by as much as 0.4% to trade at a session high of USD1,626.05 a troy ounce. Prices hit an eight-day high of USD1,626.85 a troy ounce on Friday.
Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,603.95 a troy ounce, the low from August 8 and near-term resistance at USD1,629.25, the high from July 31.
Gold futures have been well-supported in recent sessions amid lingering expectations that policymakers in the U.S., Europe and China will soon announce fresh stimulus measures to help spur growth in their respective economies.
The Federal Reserve has said it stands prepared to intervene while European Central Bank President Mario Draghi has said monetary policy officials will do whatever it takes to bolster the economy.
There are also expectations in the market that China will cut its banks’ reserve requirement ratio following the release of a flurry of mostly downbeat data last week.
Market participants will be watching U.S. data on retail sales, inflation and housing during the upcoming week in an attempt to assess the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.
Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would pump more money into the financial system.
Gold gained as much as 15% earlier this year to hit USD1,790 an ounce after the Fed said in January it would keep interest rates near zero until at least late 2014 and indicated that it could introduce a fresh round of asset-purchases.
However, prices have lost almost 11% since late February, as the Fed failed to deliver more easing and amid concerns over the euro zone’s deepening debt crisis, which has fueled demand for the precious metal’s hedge, the greenback.
Market players are already beginning to focus on an annual meeting of economists and central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the end of August.
Gold traders are also looking ahead to the Fed’s next policy meeting on September 12 and 13 for clues on the central bank’s attitude towards a next round of bond purchases, known as quantitative easing.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery shed 0.35% to trade at USD27.96 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery declined 0.85% to trade at USD3.364 a pound.
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