Gold Futures Rebound as Japan Stimulus May Spur Demand

Gold advanced for the first time in three sessions on speculation that plans announced by Japan to stimulate economic growth will boost demand for the precious metal as an inflation hedge.

The Bank of Japan (8301), after a policy meeting today, announced an expansion of its asset-purchase program by 11 trillion yen ($138 billion) to 66 trillion yen. Gold surged 11 percent in the third quarter as central banks from Europe to China to the U.S. pledged more stimulus to boost economies.

“News about more money printing in the system is perking up gold,” Michael Smith, the president of T&K Futures & Options in Port St. Lucie, Florida, said in a telephone interview.

Gold futures for December delivery rose 0.2 percent to settle at $1,712.10 an ounce at 1:34 p.m. on the Comex in New York, extending this year’s gain to 9.3 percent.

CME Group Inc., the owner of Comex, said the New York trading floor was closed today for the second day after Sandy, the Atlantic superstorm, slammed into the East Coast, driving floodwaters to life-threatening levels and leaving millions of people without power. The exchange’s Globex electronic trading system remained open.

Silver futures for December delivery increased 0.2 percent to $31.816 an ounce on the Comex.

Platinum futures for January delivery gained 1.3 percent to $1,553.60 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Palladium futures for December delivery advanced 1.1 percent to $596.15 an ounce on the Nymex.

To contact the reporters on this story: Debarati Roy in New York at droy5@bloomberg.net; Nicholas Larkin in London at nlarkin1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net