Gold futures rise after mixed U.S. data

LONDON (Aug 16)  Gold futures were higher on Friday, after the release of mixed U.S. economic reports eased expectations for the Federal Reserve to soon begin tapering its stimulus program.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for December delivery traded at USD1,366.30 a troy ounce during European afternoon hours, rising 0.35%.

The December contract settled up 2.06%, at USD1,360.9 a troy ounce on Thursday.

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,318.10 a troy ounce, Thursday's low and resistance at USD1,385.35, the high from June 18.

Official data showed that U.S. building permits rose 2.7% to 0.943 million units in July, disappointing expectations for an increase of 2.9% to 0.945 million units. The previous month's figure was revised up to 0.918 million units from 0.911 million.

The report also showed that housing starts rose 5.9% to 0.896 million units last month, confounding expectations for a 8.3% increase to 0.900 million units. The previous month's figure was revised up to 0.846 million units from 0.836 million.

Separately, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said in a preliminary report that nonfarm productivity rose 0.9% in the second quarter, beating expectations for a 0.6% gain, after a 1.7% decline in the previous quarter.

The mixed reports added to speculation that the U.S. economic recovery is not yet strong enough for the the Fed to begin scaling back its USD85 billion-a-month asset purchase program later this year.

The central bank is scheduled to meet September 17-18 to review the economy and assess policy.

Elsewhere on the Comex, silver for September delivery slipped 0.11% to trade at USD22.910 a troy ounce, while copper for September delivery climbed 0.72% to trade at USD3.362 a pound.