December gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $8 an ounce higher Wednesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. December silver is expected to be 26 cents stronger. Spot gold climbed back above $1,000 overnight on weakness in the dollar and a firmer tone in equity and commodity markets, London-based analysts said. At 7:55 a.m. EDT, spot gold was trading up $9.15 to $1,001.35. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is up to $1.4663 from $1.4573 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are up 4 points to 1,058.80. October crude oil is up 90 cents to $67.61 a barrel in overnight activity. A busy U.S. economic calendar Wednesday includes: - the September ADP employment report, with private-sector payrolls forecast to fall 240,000, due out at 8:15 a.m. EDT (1215 GMT); - the final estimate of third-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), with the forecast for a contraction of 1.2%; - the September Chicago Purchasing Managers Index at 9:45 a.m. EDT (1345 GMT), with the headline reading forecast to rise to 52.5 from 50 the prior month; - weekly U.S. energy-inventory data at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT), with crude oil stocks forecast to rise 300,000 barrels; and - the August Chicago Fed Midwest manufacturing index, due out at noon EDT (1600 GMT). In New York Tuesday, gold futures settled essentially unchanged after paring profit-taking loses and recovering from slight downward pressure from lower oil prices and a higher dollar. December gold rose 30 cents to settle at $994.40 an ounce, while December silver fell 1.7 cents to $16.178 an ounce. Comex gold warehouse stocks were down 10,023 ounces at 9,284,605 ounces Tuesday, while silver stocks were up 383,394 ounces at 115,365,804 ounces.

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