Gold rises sharply following US debt deal

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange rose sharply Thursday after US Congress passed a temporary debt deal Wednesday evening to end the government shutdown and raise the country's debt limit. The most active gold contract for December delivery rose 40.7 dollars, or 3.17 percent, to settle at 1,323 dollars per ounce. On Wednesday evening, U.S. Congress passed a deal that would finance the government until Jan. 15 and raise the debt ceiling until Feb. 7, thus avoiding a debt default and putting the government back to work after a 16-day shutdown. However, the temporary fix has not addressed the underlying problems, and the U.S. is still far from being out of the debt- ceiling problem which will return in February, said market analysts. They estimate that as the government shutdown has cost nearly 24 billion dollars for the economy, the Federal Reserve may keep in place loose monetary policy for some time, perhaps until Janet Yellen takes over the Fed. Silver for December delivery gained 58.2 cents, or 2.72 percent, to close at 21.947 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery climbed 36.7 dollars, or 2.62 percent, to close at 1,434. 9 dollars per ounce.