(RTTNews) - The price of gold advanced to 11-month high Thursday morning as the U.S. dollar continued to trade weak versus a basket of currencies ahead of the outcome of the minutes of the FOMC meeting.
Gold for December delivery, the most actively traded contract, rose $10.80 to $1,790.60 an ounce. Yesterday, gold settled steady around its 7-month high after some encouraging outlook for the precious metal and a couple of upbeat macroeconomic data from the U.S. Private sector employment in the U.S. increased more than expected in September while the non-manufacturing index also came in better than anticipated.
Holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, moved up to 1,324.40 tons from 1,322.59 tons.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar was slipping back toward a two-week low versus the euro and steady near its 2-week high against sterling. The buck continued to advance versus the yen, while trading flat against the Swiss franc.
In economic news, the Bank of England maintained the asset purchase programme at GBP 375 billion and the key interest rate at a historic low of 0.50 percent.
The European Central Bank's will announce its interest rate decision at 7.45 a.m ET and is seen holding its interest rate at 0.75 percent.
The prices of silver and platinum were trading higher in morning deals.
From the U.S., the Labor Department will release its weekly jobless claims data at 8.30 a.m ET. Economists expect the claims to increase to 370,000 from 359,000 in the previous week.
Later during the session, the Commerce Department will come out with its report on factory goods orders for August. Economists estimate a 6 percent drop in orders for factory goods following a 2.8 percent increase in July.
The Federal Reserve is due to release the minutes of its September 12-13 meeting at 2 p.m. ET.
