By Virginia Harrison, MarketWatch
SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Gold futures rose in electronic trading Monday amid elevated hopes more stimulus measures could be unveiled by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Gold for December delivery GCZ2 +0.17% added $4.40 cents, or 0.3%, to $1,677.30 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours. On the week, gold gained 3.3%
The metal gained 3.3% last week as anticipation of central-bank policy easing in China and the U.S. buoyed demand for the metal.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke indicated in a letter released Friday that the U.S. central bank has more tools, if needed, to bolster the economy.
Investors are looking for guidance as to the timing of possible easing measures in a speech by Bernanke slated for a central bankers’ retreat in Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Friday.
Silver for September delivery SIU2 +1.14% saw sharper gains, rising 56 cents, or 1.8%, to $31.18 an ounce.
“The impending increase in risk appetite associated with a third round of quantitative easing goes a long way in offsetting weak fundamentals for silver,” BNP Paribas precious-metals strategist Anne-Laure Tremblay wrote in a research note.
Elsewhere in the metals complex, September copper HGU2 +0.04% added 1 cent, or 0.3%, to $3.49 a pound, while palladium for September delivery PAU2 +0.33% eased $3.25, or 0.5%, to $655.40 an ounce.
Platinum bucked the upbeat trend, with the October contract PLV2 -0.41% losing $3.00, or 0.2%, to $1,551.40 an ounce.
Virginia Harrison is a MarketWatch reporter based in Sydney.
