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Forexpros – Gold futures traded sharply higher in U.S. trade Friday, rising the most in a week as the precious metal tracked gains in global equities and European leaders met to reach an agreement on boosting the region’s rescue fund for debt threatened euro-zone nations.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery traded at USD1,638.15 a troy ounce during early U.S. trade, advancing 1.57%, or USD30.75, after hitting a low of USDS1,612.95.
Finance ministers from the euro-zone’s 17 nations convened in Brussels Friday to discuss boosting the current USD607 billion European Financial Stability Facility, but a rift remained between Germany and France on how best to maximize the fund’s impact.
France has pushed for the use of additional money to come from the European Central Bank, while Germany argued that such a move would violate an EU treaty prohibiting the financing of governments.
Investors cautiously welcomed statements from France and Germany Friday that firm details of a rescue plan for the euro-zone would be forthcoming in the next few days.
In afternoon trade, European shares moved sharply higher with France’s CAC up 2.83% to 3,171.34, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 1.93% to 5,488.65 and Germany’s DAX climbed 3.53% to 5,970.10.
In morning U.S. trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was lifted 1.75% to 11,744.30, the Nasdaq Composite Index gained 1.51% to 2,637.89, and the S&P 500 added 1.61% to 1,234.95.
A weakening dollar helped to support gold futures, as a lower greenback makes gold futures purchases less expensive for holders of other currencies.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.84% to 76.58.
On the Comex, silver for December delivery surged 2.81% to trade at USD31.15 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery jumped 5.48% to trade at USD3.225 a pound.
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