SMM: COMEX futures rose on Thursday as the dollar fell slightly and Fed officials reaffirmed their commitment to loose monetary policy. In addition, the recent fall in gold prices to a two-month low also boosted demand for low-suction buying.

The most actively traded monthly gold futures of COMEX12 rose 8.50 U.S. dollars, or 0.5 percent, to settle at 1876.90 U.S. dollars an ounce at 13:30 new York time.

December silver futures rose 9.1 cents to settle at $23.196 an ounce.

October platinum futures fell $5 to settle at $838.0 an ounce.

December palladium futures fell $31.40 to settle at $2226.90 an ounce.

In addition, the COMEX12 monthly copper contract fell 2. 50 cents to settle at $2.9680 a pound.

Gold is still down more than 4% this week, and the strength of the dollar has a major impact on gold's decline.

ChintanKarnani, chief market analyst at InsigniaConsultants, said the shift in gold prices was boosted by short covering.

He added: "pre-election nervousness in the US" ensures that gold prices are not weak for too long.

The dollar fell on Thursday and stocks rose in volatile trading as investors bet on a new US stimulus package to boost the outlook for the epidemic-hit economy after data showed a rise in initial jobless claims last week.

Gold prices fell earlier in the day as the number of US jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, supporting the view that the economy's recovery from the novel coronavirus epidemic is losing momentum as government aid funding shrinks.

Earlier, the Labor Department said initial claims for unemployment benefits rose by 4000 to a seasonally adjusted 870000 and estimated at 840000 in the week ended Sept. 19, compared with 866000 in the previous week.

Fed officials had reiterated that they would keep monetary policy loose for several years to push unemployment down and stressed that interest rates would remain near zero until inflation reached 2 per cent.

BartMelek, head of commodity strategy at TD Securities, said: "the Fed continues to tell us that they will take all necessary measures to ensure that nothing bad happens, which will certainly encourage people to think that there will be more easing, which is good for gold."