April gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $22 an ounce higher Tuesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. March silver is expected to be up 22 cents an ounce. Traders returning from a long thee-day holiday weekend in the U.S. will find that gold has hit its strongest level since July, $968.30, on continuing banking concerns, as a special report from Moody's said Western European banks had exposure to the rapid economic decline in the Eastern Europe. Analysts also cited an announcement from Russia Monday that the proportion of gold in its foreign-exchange reserves had increased and that this will continue. Momentum-based buying also boosted gold, particularly due to the negative sentiment in global equities and ongoing financial uncertainty. At 7:57 a.m. EST, spot gold was trading up $22.65 to $964.50. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.2631 from $1.2805 late Monday afternoon and $1.2862 late Friday. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the March S&P 500 futures are down 15.20 points to 804.80. March crude oil is down 67 cents to $36.84 a barrel in overnight activity. U.S. economic data Tuesday begin with the New York Fed's Empire State manufacturing survey at 8:30 a.m. EST (1330 GMT). The forecast is for a February reading of minus 24, versus minus 22.2 in January. The Treasury is scheduled to report on December international capital flows at 9 a.m. EST (1400 GMT), and the National Association of Home Builders is due to release its February housing-market index at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT). On Wednesday, the economic indicators are import prices, housing starts, industrial production and minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's January meeting. Thursday brings weekly jobless claims, the Producer Price Index, Leading Economic Indicators and Philadelphia Fed's manufacturing index, and the week's list of economic reports ends Friday with the Consumer Price Index. In New York Friday, traders booked profits in gold futures, resulting in a lower close one day after the metal ran to its strongest level in more than half of a year. April gold slipped $7 to $942.20 an ounce. March silver fared better, however, rising 11.5 cents to $13.625. Comex gold warehouse stocks were down 32 ounces at 8,428,990 ounces Friday, while silver stocks were up 228 ounces at 124,339,571 ounces.

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