Investing.com - Gold prices crept up in Asian trading on Thursday, as soft physical demand for the precious metal in India tempered gains stemming from talk the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank will take steps to jolt their economies via stimulus measures.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery were up 0.06% and trading at USD1,614.85 a troy ounce, up from a session low of USD1,613.05 and down from a high of USD1,615.25 a troy ounce early during the session.
Gold futures were likely to test support at USD1,609.05 a troy ounce, the low from Aug. 7, and resistance at USD1,619.15, the high from Aug. 7.
A drought in India has stoked fears that demand for physical gold will suffer by drying up harvests and cut into rural household revenues, which would sour approaching festive seasons when demand rises.
Fears of reduced physical demand in India somewhat offset bullish pressure on the metal coming from talk the ECB and the U.S. Federal Reserve are poised to stimulate their respective economies with monetary policy tools involving bond purchases.
Easing tools, especially the Fed's use of quantitative easing — purchases of Treasury holdings and mortgaged-backed securities held by banks — send gold rising by weakening its traditional hedge, the dollar.
Weak data out of Germany further fueled speculation the ECB will buy sovereign debt in the open market.
German industrial production fell 0.9% in June, slightly worse than analysts' calls for a decline of 0.8%, and down from an upwardly revised 1.7% gain in May.
The data came on the heels of more bad news out of Germany.
German factory orders fell 1.7% in June, well above expectations for a 1.0% decline.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery was down 0.12% and trading at USD28.040 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery was up 0.19% and trading at USD3.423 a pound.
On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for October delivery were up 0.06% and trading at USD1,614.85 a troy ounce, up from a session low of USD1,613.05 and down from a high of USD1,615.25 a troy ounce early during the session.
Gold futures were likely to test support at USD1,609.05 a troy ounce, the low from Aug. 7, and resistance at USD1,619.15, the high from Aug. 7.
A drought in India has stoked fears that demand for physical gold will suffer by drying up harvests and cut into rural household revenues, which would sour approaching festive seasons when demand rises.
Fears of reduced physical demand in India somewhat offset bullish pressure on the metal coming from talk the ECB and the U.S. Federal Reserve are poised to stimulate their respective economies with monetary policy tools involving bond purchases.
Easing tools, especially the Fed's use of quantitative easing — purchases of Treasury holdings and mortgaged-backed securities held by banks — send gold rising by weakening its traditional hedge, the dollar.
Weak data out of Germany further fueled speculation the ECB will buy sovereign debt in the open market.
German industrial production fell 0.9% in June, slightly worse than analysts' calls for a decline of 0.8%, and down from an upwardly revised 1.7% gain in May.
The data came on the heels of more bad news out of Germany.
German factory orders fell 1.7% in June, well above expectations for a 1.0% decline.
Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery was down 0.12% and trading at USD28.040 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery was up 0.19% and trading at USD3.423 a pound.