Gold futures edge higher after ECB, BoE measures

Forex News – Gold futures edged higher in choppy trade on Thursday, after the European Central Bank announced measures to boost liquidity to euro zone lenders, while the Bank of England implemented a fresh round of monetary easing measures.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,644.85 a troy ounce during U.S. morning trade, easing up 0.2%.

It earlier fell by as much as 0.6% to trade at a daily low of USD1,633.35 a troy ounce during the European trading session.

The December contract rose by as much as 0.95% to USD1,656.75 an ounce during the Asian trading session.

In his final press conference as president of the ECB, Jean-Claude Trichet said the central bank will advance new loans to banks with maturities up to 13 months, in an effort to shore up the region’s struggling banking sector.

The ECB will also launch a new EUR40 billion covered-bond buying program in November, saying that the measures "will continue to ensure that euro-area banks are not constrained on the liquidity side."

The announcement came after the ECB left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 1.5%.

Meanwhile, BoE policymakers voted to increase the bank’s asset purchase program by GBP75 billion, to GBP275 billion to support the U.K. economy, which has come under pressure from government spending cuts, a slowdown in global growth and the deepening financial crisis in the euro zone.

The bank left interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5%.

German financial service provider Commerzbank said in a report earlier that, “Such monetary easing is bullish for precious metals, especially gold, given their close relationship with global liquidity."

Also Thursday, the U.S. Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week rose by 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 401,000, beating expectations for an increase to 411,000.

The previous week’s figure was revised up to 395,000 from 391,000.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery surged 2.95% to trade at USD31.24 a troy ounce, while copper for December delivery rallied 4.47% to trade at USD3.245 a pound.