By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Gold futures rose in electronic trading Friday, on track for a sixth session of gains, as the prospect of fresh stimulus underpinned demand.
Gold for August delivery GCQ2 +0.38% added $6.00, or 37 cents, to $1,625.70 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Stock Exchange during Asian trading hours. The metal is on track for a weekly gain of 2.1%.
Weak U.S. data coupled with troubles in Europe have stirred hopes of more monetary stimulus measures from global central banks. Read more on Thursday's gold session.
On Thursday Reuters reported central banks of major economies are ready to provide liquidity if needed after crucial elections in Greek on Sunday. The vote is expected to determine the Greece’s future in the euro zone.
The broader metals complex followed gold higher in Asian trading.
Silver for July delivery SIN2 +0.91% added 24 cents, or 0.8%, to $28.61 an ounce. Copper for the same month delivery HGN2 +0.79% put on 2 cents, or 0.6% to $3.38 a pound.
July platinum PLN2 +0.40% gained $9.30, or 0.6%, to $1,496.90 an ounce. September palladium turned up $4.60, or 0.7%, to $639.50 an ounce.
A weaker dollar was lending support to metal buying in Asian trading. The dollar index DXY -0.09% , a measure of the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, slipped to 81.785, from 81.940 in North American trade late Thursday.
A softer greenback tends to encourage investment in dollar-denominated commodities including gold.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
