Gold Updates

Gold came back in action today after the commodity had silent session for past two days as the hurricane Sandy thinned the trading in markets. However the metal may face resistances near $1735 levels as traders become cautious ahead of the US employment data due on Friday and the presidential election next week.

The metal surged above $1720 an ounce after data released showed that China's economy is finally regaining traction, although the recovery remains sluggish. China's manufacturing activity rose to an eight-month high in October, firming to a level marginally below expansion, according to survey released by HSBC on Thursday. The China Purchasing Managers' Index rose to 49.5 on a 100-point scale, showing improvement from HSBC's final PMI reading of 47.9 in September.

US December gold futures are trading gold futures are up $3 at $ 1722.1 per ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Gold had climbed to near $1,800 an ounce in early October after aggressive stimulus measures announced by central banks including the US Federal Reserve and European Central Bank fuelled a rally.

In other metals, December silver futures were up 6 cents at $32.38 an ounce while December copper futures rose 2 cents to $3.53 per pound. Platinum for December delivery declined $2.70 to $1,574.30, while January palladium futures slipped $1.15 to $608.65 an ounce.

MCX December gold futures are trading flat at Rs 31110 per 10 grams today. It may face a stiff resistance near Rs 31150 levels.