DOW JONES NEWSWIRES December gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $10 an ounce higher Monday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. December silver is expected to be up 36 cents an ounce. Precious metals rose in overseas trading on bargain hunting, although there are worries about further volatility and potential fund selling, London-based traders said. At 7:51 a.m. EDT, spot gold was trading up $13.25 to $797. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is up marginally to $1.3420 from $1.3410 late Friday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are up 16.10 points to 950.10. November crude oil is up $1.93 to $73.78 a barrel in overnight activity. The September Leading Economic Indicators are due out from the Conference Board at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT) and are forecast to be unchanged. At the same time, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to testify before the U.S. House Budget Committee on the economic-recovery effort. Other major reports this week include jobless claims on Thursday and existing-home sales on Friday. In New York Friday, continued long liquidation that included the funds sent gold futures to their lowest level in slightly more than a month, analysts said. December gold fell $16.80 to $787.70 an ounce, while December silver lost 30 cents to $9.335. Comex gold warehouse stocks were up 3,760 ounces at 8,565,237 ounces Friday, while silver stocks were down 211,589 ounces at 133,370,674 ounces. -By Allen Sykora, Dow Jones Newswires; 541-318-8765; allen.sykora@dowjones.com Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary: http://www.djnewsplus.com/al?rnd=KfXVaU4ZPDnNUBv9zalcUQ%3D%3D. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day. (END) Dow Jones Newswires

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