Volatility could stall as holiday break approaches EverettEL CONDOR, Lee Van Cleef, 1970Gold prices on Friday bounced back from a data-induced decline in the prior session, rallying ahead of next week’s holiday shortened stretch and the relatively quiet trading action that comes with it. Gold for December delivery GCZ4, -0.23% recouped $3.60 to $1,194.50 an ounce. December silver SIZ4, +0.02% jumped 13 cents, or 0.8%, to $16.27 an ounce. A day earlier, gold prices made it back-to-back losses amid the continued pressure from news that a proposal requiring the Swiss central bank to ramp up its holdings in bullion is losing support. Concerns over when the Fed will raise rates also dogged gold prices. Gary Wagner of the Gold Forecast says all the recent signals are pointing to a “robust” and improving economic picture. How that news is digested will tell us where gold is headed. “Will they tell the Fed that rates should be raised soon? Very soon? Or will the central bank stick to its timetable of later next year?” he said. “The answers to those questions are, of course, key for understanding the direction of gold prices.” In other metals trading, January platinum PLF5, +0.80% rose $12.90, or 1%, to $1,218.50 an ounce, while December palladium PAZ4, +1.04% tacked on $9.05, or 1.2%, to $776.20 an ounce. High-grade copper for December deliveryHGZ4, +0.15% added a penny to $3.03 a pound Shawn Langlois