Forexpros – Forexpros – Gold futures traded fractionally higher in Asian trade Friday, as European finance officials moved to stabilize the region’s banks and ease market concerns over euro-zone sovereign debt woes.On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,653.75 a troy ounce during early Asian trade, adding 0.02%, after hitting a low of USDS1,652.05. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Thursday the ECB would begin a two-fold program to ease concerns in financial markets over Europe’s sovereign debt threats.Trichet, whose term as head of Europe’s central bank expires at the end of October, said the ECB would begin buying USD53 billion in covered bonds and institute longer term refinancing operations to commercials banks in the euro-zone beginning this month.The ECB voted to maintain interest rates unchanged at 1.5%.Earlier Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that the number of Americans filing for initial jobless benefits for the week ending September 30 rose by 6,000, to a seasonally adjusted 401,000.Market expectations were for jobless claims to rise to 411,000 after hitting 395,000 the previous week.The encouraging labor numbers lifted Wall Street shares, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 1.68% to 11,123.33, the Nasdaq Composite Index rose 1.88% to 2,506.82, and the S&P 500 was lifted 1.83% to end the day at 1,164.97.The Bank of England also decided to leave interest rates at a record low 0.5%, a rate it has stuck to since March 2009, and increase the size of its own asset purchase program by USD115 billion.Elsewhere, German financial services provider Commerzbank, commenting on the BOE and ECB announcements, said “Such monetary easing is bullish for precious metals, especially gold, given their close relationship with global liquidity.”On the Comex, silver for December delivery dropped 0.41% to trade at USD31.87 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery fell fractionally by 0.07% to trade at USD3.269 a pound.

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