Gold prices ease in Asian trade, give back overnight gains

                    Gold prices eased slightly in Asia on Friday, with investors taking gains from an overnight jump on expectations of continued easy monetary policy in the United States.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,285.90 a troy ounce, down 0.03%, and trading in a range of 1,285.40 - 1,288.00.

Overnight, gold prices hit a session low of USD1,273.30 a troy ounce and high of USD1,293.60 a troy ounce after Federal Reserve Chair Nominee Janet Yellen said that monetary stimulus tools should stay in place as needed to ensure a more robust recovery.

Weaker annualized GDP growth in Japan reported in the third quarter is expected to keep the Bank of Japan in its aggressive easing mode, while Yellen's comments overnight indicated the start of a taper for the Fed's USD85 billion a month bond-buying program may not come in December as some investors expected after solid jobs data last week.

"We have made good progress, but we have farther to go to regain the ground lost in the crisis and the recession," Yellen told a congressional committee vetting her nomination.

"Unemployment is down from a peak of 10 percent, but at 7.3 percent in October, it is still too high, reflecting a labor market and economy performing far short of their potential. At the same time, inflation has been running below the Federal Reserve's goal of 2 percent and is expected to continue to do so for some time."

Her comments weakened the dollar, which also came under pressure amid sentiments that even when the Fed begins to taper the pace of its monthly asset purchases be it in December or in early 2014, monetary tightening is still a long way away.

Elsewhere in the U.S., the Labor Department reported earlier that the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits last week declined by 2,000 to a seasonally adjusted 339,000.

Analysts had expected U.S. jobless claims to fall by 11,000, which also softened the dollar.

A separate report showed that the U.S. trade deficit widened to USD41.8 billion in September from a deficit of USD38.7 billion in August.  Analysts were expecting an USD39.0 billion deficit.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for December delivery traded at 20.733 a troy ounce, up 0.05%. - investing.com