Investing.com - Gold futures gained ground during European early afternoon trading hours on Thursday, as news that the Federal Reserve refrained from tapering its stimulus program weighed on the U.S. dollar, sending the precious metal sharply higher. Moves in the gold price this year have largely tracked shifting expectations as to whether the U.S. central bank would end its quantitative easing program sooner-than-expected. On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,367.40 a troy ounce during European afternoon hours, up 4.58%. The December contract settled 0.14% lower at USD1,307.60 a troy ounce on Wednesday. Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,320.50 a troy ounce, the low from September 12 and resistance at USD1,387.10 a troy ounce, the high from September 10. The Fed refrained on Wednesday from reducing the USD85 billion pace of its monthly asset purchases and said the central bank must determine its policies based on "what’s needed for the economy," even if it surprises markets. Speaking after the conclusion of the Fed's two-day policy-setting meeting, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke Bernanke said he wanted to "wait a bit longer and to try to get confirming evidence" that the economy is showing signs of lasting improvement. Bernanke refused to commit to reducing bond purchases this year, saying the stimulus program was "not on a preset course." Separately, the Fed cut its projection for 2013 economic growth to a 2.0% to 2.3% range from a June estimate of 2.3% to 2.6%. The Fed's decision to maintain its current stimulus program came as a surprise as market analysts had been expecting the U.S. central bank to start cutting monthly bond purchases by USD10 billion to USD75 billion this month. Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery rallied 6.79% to trade at USD23.023 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery jumped 2.10% to trade at USD3.347 a pound.

Source