December gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $4 an ounce lower Thursday, 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 5 cents lower. At 7:51 a.m. EDT, spot gold was trading down $2 to $1,004.35. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is down to $1.4541 from $1.4636 late Wednesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are down 5.60 points to 1,047.30. November crude oil is down 73 cents to $69.88 a barrel in overnight activity. U.S. economic reports Thursday include: - August personal income and spending due out at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), forecast to be up 0.1% and 1.1%, respectively; - first-time weekly jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), expected to rise 5,000 to 535,000; - August pending home sales at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), forecast to rise 1.5% on a monthly basis; - the Institute for Supply Management's September manufacturing index at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), expected to rise to a 54 reading from 52.9 the prior month; - August construction spending at 10 a.m. EDT (1400 GMT), expected to be unchanged; and - September sales figures expected from U.S. auto manufacturers during the course of the day. In New York Wednesday, gold futures rallied back above $1,000 an ounce on a weaker dollar, a bounce in equities and higher crude oil prices. December gold climbed $14.90 to $1,009.30 an ounce, while December silver rose 48 cents to settle at $16.658 an ounce. Comex gold warehouse stocks were up 13,023 ounces at 9,297,628 ounces Wednesday, while silver stocks were up 47,392 ounces at 115,413,196 ounces.

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