Spot gold prices are trading modestly higher Monday extending their marginal gains posted during the previous trading day. Spot gold ended Friday’s session up $4.15 at $1704.05/oz, despite a drop in the US unemployment rate. Market participants in the precious metal are now looking ahead to this week’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, scheduled for December 11-12, with some market expectation that there could be some additional quantitative easing (QE) towards the end of the month, which would provide some support for bullion prices. Gold prices, may however, face some downside risks from political and macroeconomic news in the eurozone, after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said that he will resign after passing the country’s 2013 budget. Spot gold prices have edged their way higher during Asian traded hours this morning, picking up from an intra-day low of $1702.25/oz to a fresh session high of around $1709.50/oz a few moments ago. Spot gold now trades at $1709/oz, up $4.95 on the session.
EasyForexNews Research Team