Gold trades slightly lower as Asia evaluates U.S. data

               Gold futures traded modestly lower in the early part of Friday’s Asian session as traders in the region evaluated some U.S. data points that could imply the Federal Reserve has room to consider tapering its quantitative easing program sooner than some had hoped. 

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery inched down 0.02% to USD1,308.20 per troy ounce in Asian trading Friday. The December contract settled lower by 0.71% at USD1,308.50 per ounce on Thursday. 

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,251.10 a troy ounce, the low from Oct. 15, and resistance at USD1,361.70, the high from Oct. 28.

In U.S. economic news out Thursday, the Commerce Department said the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8% in the three months to September, far surpassing expectations for a 2.0% reading. The U.S. economy grew by 2.5% in the preceding quarter.

Separately, the Department of Labor said the number of individuals filing for initial jobless benefits in the U.S. last week fell by 9,000 to a seasonally adjusted 336,000, largely in line with analysts' forecasts for a claims to fall by 10,000. 

Gold was also pressured as the dollar rallied after the European Central Bank surprisingly lowered interest rates to a record-low 0.25% from 0.5%. The bank also cut its marginal lending rate to 0.75% from 1% and left its deposit facility rate unchanged at zero. 

The economic news served ignite fears the Fed could taper its USD85 billion-per-month bond-buying program as soon as next month whereas most traders were expecting tapering would be in the conversation again until the end of the first quarter of 2014. 

Elsewhere, Comex silver for December delivery rose 0.14% to USD21.688 per ounce while copper for December delivery jumped 0.53% to USD3.259 an ounce.  - investing.com