1st LD Writethru: Gold up on weaker dollar ahead of ECB meeting

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar weakened against the euro ahead of the European Central Bank(ECB) meeting.

The most active gold contract for December delivery rose 4.70 U.S. dollars, or 0.40 percent, to settle at 1,177.50 dollars per ounce.

The precious metal rose ahead of a meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) on Thursday, where analysts believed ECB President Mario Draghi will provide an indication as to whether or not rumors of a possible expansion of quantitative easing are accurate. Draghi had hinted at the potential for additional quantitative easing during the previous meeting of the ECB in September.

Gold was given additional support as the market prepared for the ECB meeting, as the U.S. dollar index fell by 0.16 to 94.76 as of 16:15 GMT. The index is a measure of the dollar against a basket of major currencies.

Gold and the dollar typically move in opposite directions, which means if the dollar goes up, gold futures will fall as gold, measured by the dollar, becomes more expensive for investors.

A report released by the U.S. Department of Commerce prevented gold from rising even further, as it showed housing starts increasing by 6.5 percent to a 1.206 million annual rate. This was better than expected, and analysts noted strength in the multi-family starts measure which increased by a very strong 18.3 percent to a 466,000 annual rate.

Silver for December delivery was up 7.60 cents, or 0.48 percent, to close at 15.917 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery gained 5.50 dollars, or 0.54 percent, to close at 1,020.10 dollars per ounce. Endite