From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold Prices moved higher in Asian trade Wednesday, before dipping in London and spiking nearly 1% higher to $737 at the New York open but sliding fast as the session unfolded to end with a loss of 0.41%.

Silver rose as high as $13.57 before it also fell, ending with a loss of 0.82%.

Gold Priced in Euros fell to about €515, platinum gained $12 to a new record high at $1345, palladium lost $1 to $338, and copper fell a couple of cents to about $3.63.

Gold and silver mining equities found small gains in the first half hour of trade, but they then fell off to around a 2% loss, remaining near their lows into the close.

In the broader commodity markets, crude oil matched the movement in the Gold Market, rising back above $80 in early trade on Wednesday due to increased geopolitical tensions, but it then fell back under $78 after US inventory reports came in better than expected. Oil stockpiles built 1.8 million barrels despite an expected drop, gasoline inventories built a larger than expected 600,000 barrels, and distillates built a larger than expected 1.6 million barrels.

US refinery utilization, however, fell a large 2.7% to 86.9%, and as traders looked deeper into the reports – and saw a drawdown in inventories at the key Cushing, Oklahoma plant – they began to buy and oil ended back above $80 with a gain when the session finally closed.

The US Dollar index rebounded from near-record lows despite US durable goods orders for Aug. coming in nearly 5% below the previous reading. Strength in the stock market appeared to give some short-term confidence to the currency and allowed it to bounce from a technically oversold condition.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P found decent gains at the open on news that GM had resolved a strike with UAW and all three indices held their gains into the close.

Treasury bonds fell in early trade on profit-taking as stocks rose, but they erased most of their losses by the close after a very strong two-year note auction added to demand.

Thursday at 12:30 GMT brings the last revision to second-quarter US economic growth, together with initial jobless claims from last week. Ninety minutes later, expect New Home Sales data for Aug., forecast to show a 4.5% drop from July.

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