CHICAGO, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX Division of the New York Mercantile Exchange gained on Friday as the U.S. dollar lost ground. Silver and platinum both rose.
The most active gold contract for December delivery climbed 10.10 U.S. dollars, or 0.9 percent, to finish at 1,116.70 dollars an ounce, slightly lower than the intraday high of 1,117.80.
The Commerce Department said on Friday that the U.S. trade deficit widened in September by an unexpectedly large 18.2 percent, the largest increase in more than 10 years. The monthly trade gap grew to 36.5 billion dollars, from a slightly revised estimate of 30.8 billion dollars in August.
This discouraging data pressured on dollar with the dollar index, a gauge measuring the greenback's value against other major currencies, dropped more than 0.6 percent to an intraday low of 75.225 about an hour before gold pit trading closed, which raised gold's demand of hedge.
The U.S. consumers still hesitated to spend money as the jobless rate keeps marching higher. The University of Michigan/Reuters consumer sentiment index fell to 66.0 in early November from 70.6 in October, well below economists' expectations of 71.0 and falling for two straight months.
December silver was up 11.5 cents to 17.38 dollars per ounce. January platinum rose 25.50 dollars to 1,388.70 dollars an ounce.
