CHICAGO, June 12 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange ended in positive territory on Wednesday, mostly thanks to the support from a weaker U.S. dollar.

The most active gold contract for August delivery rose 15 dollars, or 1.09 percent, to settle at 1,392.0 dollars per ounce. Nevertheless, gold futures have dropped more than 17 percent so far this year.

The dollar lost ground in Wednesday's trading, slipping versus both the euro and the Japanese yen, which provided underlying support to the precious metal, according to market analysts. A stronger dollar tends to pressure the prices of dollar-denominated commodities such as gold.

The greenback fell across the board on Wednesday, extending the previous day's steep decline against the yen, as the Bank of Japan had decided to maintain rather than expand its stimulus measures.

While gold is showing some signs of stability, the market remains caught in the middle between seasonal signs of a slowing U. S. economy and prospects for the U.S. Federal Reserve to begin tapering its bond purchases, some analysts said.

Gold prices have suffered from market expectations that the Fed will move in the coming months to scale back its bond purchases. Gold had rallied sharply in recent years as the Fed and other major central banks across the world introduced aggressive monetary easing programs.

Silver for July delivery also rose 15 cents, or 0.69 percent, to close at 21.796 dollars per ounce.