All U.S. stock and option trading will be closed on Monday because of Hurricane Sandy, with the move adding to earlier plans to close floor trading only. Markets may also remain closed Tuesday, reports said. The decision to keep the markets shut on Monday came after an agreement between the bourses, regulators and trading firms late Sunday.
Asian stocks traded mostly higher Monday, with earnings helping the Japanese market, although heavy losses for property firms weighed in Hong Kong.
An ounce of gold on COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange is trading up $2 at $1713.9 in Asia electronic trades today. On the week, gold futures declined 0.65%, the third consecutive weekly drop. It fell to a seven-week low of $1,699.65 a troy ounce on October 24. Gold is likely to find support near $1685 levels with resistance near $ 1725 levels.
Gold futures ended Friday’s session mildly lower, as better-than-forecast U.S. third quarter growth data raised concern the Federal Reserve might scale back its monetary easing measures. Ongoing worries over Spain and Greece and growing uncertainty ahead of the U.S. presidential elections further weighed on sentiment.
Ahead of a policy decision from the Bank of Japan due out Tuesday, the U.S. dollar bought ¥79.66, little moved from late Friday’s ¥79.63 level but holding on to a near-2% gain made so far this month amid speculation of more easing from the Japanese central bank.
This week, investors will be awaiting any indication that Spain is growing closer to requesting a bailout from its euro zone partners. In addition, traders will be focusing on the outcome of Tuesday’s Bank of Japan policy meeting amid ongoing speculation over the possibility of more easing from the central bank.
