Gold futures closed higher, recovering from its early losses as lower equities and rumors that Germany might be next to get a sovereigndebt downgrade contributed to renewed nervousness in the markets. Gold holdings of SPDR gold trust, the largest ETF backed by the precious metal, declined to 1,232.31 tons, as on August 24. Silver holdings of ishares silver trust, the largest ETF backed by the metal, declined to 9,705.9 tons, as on August 25. The dollar index, which tracks greenback against a basket of six major trading partners, traded at 74.280, up from 73.794 on late Wednesday. US Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke is due to address central bankers at Jackson Hole today. His speech last year laid the groundwork for the Fed's $600bn bond-buying program, to revive the US economy. Copper jumped nearly 2% to close at a 3- week high, on confidence over the growth prospects of Asian economies and speculation that the Federal Reserve might announce some measures for the ailing US economy. Copper futures for Sept. delivery closed higher by 2% at $4.0980 per pound on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude oil futures staged a late-day rebound to close modestly higher as Hurricane Irene raised concerns about a slowdown in refinery production on the East Coast, providing a lift to heating oil and gasoline prices. CME Group Inc. has reduced the collateral requirements for traders to trade its main crude oil futures contract, a move the exchange operator attributed after a drop in price volatility. Natural gas futures recovered, after the Energy Information Administration reported that US inventories rose in line with market expectations last week and market sentiments were weighed by the impact of Hurricane Irene that may reduce demand for gas. The US Energy Department's EIA said in its weekly report that natural gas held in underground storage at the lower 48 states grew by 73bn cubic feet to 2.906tn cubic feet in the week ended August 19.

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