Gold continues to rise as ECB keeps interest rates unchanged

CHICAGO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose further on Thursday as the European Central Bank (ECB) decided to keep interest rates unchanged.

The most active gold contract for February delivery rose 8.5 dollars, or 0.68 percent, to settle at 1257.10 dollars per ounce.

A widely expected interest rate hike of 0.25 percentage point announced on Wednesday by the U.S. Federal Reserve failed to dent the rise of gold futures, which were further boosted by the ECB's decision on Thursday.

The Governing Council of the ECB decided that the interest rate on the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility will remain unchanged at 0.00 percent, 0.25 percent and -0.40 percent respectively.

"The Governing Council expects the key ECB interest rates to remain at their present levels for an extended period of time, and well past the horizon of the net asset purchases," the ECB said in a statement.

The Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank also decided to leave their respective interest rates unchanged on Thursday.

Gold futures were also supported by the fall of equities. The U.S. Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq all fell into negative territories.

As for other precious metals, silver for March delivery went up 6.5 cents, or 0.41 percent, to settle at 15.934 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January rose 5.8 dollars, or 0.66 percent, to close at 881.20 dollars per ounce. Enditem