From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Spot Gold Prices dropped to find over $4 losses by midday in London on Wednesday, but they then rebounded late morning in New York and traded just slightly lower for the rest of the day before closing with a loss of 0.21%.

Silver dropped to as low as $12.08 by early morning in New York before it also rebounded higher into the close, but it still ended with a loss of 0.90%.

The Euro Price of Gold dipped to €499, but then recovered in the early Asian session, while platinum lost $1 to $1,268, palladium lost $2 to $330, and copper fell roughly 4 cents to about $3.29.

Gold and silver equities traded mostly slightly lower and ended with minimal losses.

On the economic front, the ADP’s private-sector jobs report showed an addition of just 38,000 jobs in August – the slowest growth in four years. The Federal Reserve’s Beige Book, released at lunchtime, claimed that the effects of the credit crisis in August “were limited” outside of the real estate market.

Thursday at 12:30 GMT brings Initial Jobless Claims for last week, expected at 330,000, plus second quarter US productivity, expected to show 2.4% growth. An hour later comes the ISM Services report for August, expected at 54.5.

Back in Wednesday's markets, crude oil rose in late US trade and ended at a new four-week high as traders prepared for today's inventory data – expected to show declines in US supplies. Trader are also keeping a close eye on new weather in the Gulf of Mexico, plus any comments from OPEC – the cartel of oil-producing countries – which is expected to keep output at current levels at their meeting next week.

The US Dollar index fell and Treasury bond prices rose as poor economic data pushed the yield on the 10-year bond under 4.5% for the first time since March.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P traded lower after poor home sales and jobs data renewed worries about the economy. All the indices then fell further after the Fed’s Beige Book characterized recent economic impact from credit problems as "limited", reducing hopes for a rate cut at their next meeting.

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