Gold soars as traders up bullish bets

Gold futures soared in the early part of Monday?s Asian session as traders increased their long bets on bullion.

On the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, gold futures for August delivery climbed 1.52% to USD1,312.55 per troy ounce in Asian trading Monday after 0.8% on Friday to settle the week at USD1,295.05 a troy ounce.

Gold futures were likely to find support at USD1,242.35 a troy ounce, the low from July 10 and near-term resistance at USD1,301.75, the high from June 21. Last week, gold notched a weekly increase of 0.85%., the second consecutive weekly gain.

Gold ran to a one-month high last Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the pace of the central bank?s bond purchases are not a ?preset course?.

In the first day of his semi-annual testimony to Congress, Bernanke reiterated that the Fed will continue to maintain its accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future.

He added that the central bank may taper its USD85-billion-a-month asset-purchase program later this year and halt it around mid-2014.