December gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $4 an ounce higher 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 8 cents stronger. Spot gold recovered in Europe overnight after hitting a three-week low the day before, but market players said how much the metal regains will depend on how the U.S. dollar trades against the euro. At 7:56 a.m. EDT, spot gold was trading up $6.60 to $1,034.80. In other markets that have the potential to affect metals in the short term, the euro is up to $1.4728 from $1.4705 late Wednesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the December S&P 500 futures are up 3.40 points to 1,042. December crude oil is up 37 cents to $77.83 a barrel in overnight activity. A pair of U.S. economic reports is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT). Advance third-quarter domestic product is expected to have grown by 3.2%, while weekly jobless claims are forecast to be down 6,000 to 525,000. In New York Wednesday, gold futures declined as waning risk appetite boosted the dollar and pressured oil prices and equities, but physical buying may keep the metal from a larger decline. December gold fell $4.90 to $1,030.50 an ounce, while December silver lost 30 cents to $16.24. Comex gold warehouse stocks were down 224 ounces at 9,427,260 ounces Wednesday, while silver stocks were up 1,040,474 ounces at 116,588,811 ounces.

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