CHICAGO, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange settled higher Wednesday, as the U.S. Federal Reserve's announcement of a new bond-buying program fueled further losses in the dollar, providing a lift to dollar-denominated commodities.
The most active gold contract for February delivery rose 8.3 dollars, or 0.49 percent, to settle at 1,717.9 dollars per ounce.
According to reports, the Federal Reserve announced a new bond- buying program Wednesday to keep the recovery going in the jobs market and set thresholds on unemployment and inflation to guide the market about when it will eventually hike rates.
The new purchases of 45 billion U.S. dollars of Treasurys are designed to keep the total pace of its asset purchases at 85 billion dollars a month. Market analysts say the continuing Fed policy of quantitative easing will further weaken the U.S. dollar and support gold well into 2013, with volatile trading patterns along with profit-taking periods as well.
The U.S. dollar's losses intensified following the central bank 's announcement, fueling more gains for gold prices.
The ICE dollar index, which measures the greenback's performance against a basket of six rival global currencies, fell to 79.791, compared with 80.061 in North America trade late on Tuesday.
Silver for March delivery rose 76.5 cents, or 2.32 percent, to close at 33.782 dollars per ounce.
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