By Laura Mandaro & Nick Godt, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures touched $1,042 an ounce after a report showed the U.S. economy expanded for the first time in a year, encouraging investors to buy stocks and oil, trends that have supported gold recently. Gold for December delivery, adding to earlier gains, rose $11.50, or 1.1%, to $1,042 an ounce. Silver for December delivery rose 39 cents, or 2.4%, to $16.63 an ounce. "It's the better economic figures, better oil and better moving averages in gold," that are supporting prices Thursday, said George Gero, vice president of global futures at RBC Capital Markets. The Commerce Department said Thursday U.S. gross domestic product rose at a 3.5% annual pace in the third quarter, the strongest growth in two years, and matching a survey of economists polled by MarketWatch.com. Read story on GDP. Separately, jobless claims fell 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 530,000 last week, the Labor Department said. Economists were looking for first-time claims to fall to 524,000. Read story on jobless claims. The dollar edged lower against major rivals after the GDP report. The dollar index (DXY 75.10, -0.43, -0.56%) , which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of other major currencies, fell to 76.092 from 76.264 ahead of the report, for a roughly 0.3% loss for the day. See Currencies. The S&P 500 (SPX 1,058, +15.15, +1.45%) rose 14 points to 1,056, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (INDU 9,878, +115.40, +1.18%) gained 101 points to 9,864, with both rebounding from steep losses in recent sessions. Read more on how stocks are faring. December oil futures rose $2.30, or 3%, to $79.77 a barrel. See Futures Movers. Gold and other hard assets tend to gain when the U.S. dollar -- the world's favored reserve currency -- weakens. Though some investors view gold as the ultimate safe asset in uncertain times, gold has been rising along with stocks and other investments positively tied to economic growth. This hand-in-hand relationship between gold and so-called "risk assets" stems partly from the weak dollar, which has been boosting both dollar-denominated commodities and stocks through what some say is a new global carry trade. That is, the growing trend of investors borrowing cheap dollars to buy higher yielding assets. More immediately, climbing equity prices also give investors less reason to dump their gold holdings, Gero added. A rising stock market "means money managers have less incentives to sell gold to raise cash," he said. The SPDR Gold Trust (GLD 102.30, +1.57, +1.56%) , an exchange-traded fund that invests in gold, rose 1.4%. December copper gained 9 cents, or 3%, to $3.02 a pound. December palladium rose $7.95, or 2.5%, to $325.35 an ounce and January platinum slid $28.70, or 2.2%, to $1,335.6 an ounce. On Wednesday, gold closed nearly $5 lower as the dollar extended gains after disappointing elements in economic data and from a tumble in equities. "Further price falls are quite possible in the short term as gold works off its short term overbought state," analysts at GoldCore said in a note. "However, the primary driver of gold prices in recent months has been investment demand, especially institutional, hedge fund and central bank."

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