Gold and Silver Gain Almost 1%

Gold rose $9.15 to $1169.25 in Asia before it fell back off in London to see a $0.70 loss at as low as $1159.40 by about 10AM EST, but it then rallied back higher for most of the rest of trade ended back near its earlier high with a gain of 0.76%. Silver dropped to as low as $17.464 shortly after 8AM EST before it rose to a new session high of $17.68 by late morning in New York and next fell back off a bit, but it then bounced back higher in late trade and ended with a gain of 0.86%.

Eurogold remained at about €893, platinum gained $29.65 to $1560.50, and copper gained over 4 cents to about $3.29.

Gold and silver equities opened up about 1% higher before they fell to see slight losses midday, but they then rallied back higher in afternoon trade and ended with small gains.

Oil rose as the U.S. dollar index fell after the euro climbed to almost 3-month highs on strong data and news out of Europe. The dollar was also hurt “by a report that Moody's top sovereign analyst for the U.S. reiterated that the nation's triple-A credit rating could eventually come under scrutiny unless the government presents a credible fiscal consolidation plan.”

Treasuries rose after today’s $29 billion 7-year note auction drew a yield of 2.394% with a bid to cover of 2.78.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose at the open on better than expected economic data and earnings reports before they fell to see notable losses midday, but they then rallied back higher in afternoon trade and ended with only modest losses as traders positioned themselves ahead of tomorrow’s GDP report.

Among the big names making news in the market today were Toyota, Panasonic, Symantec, Moody’s, Exxon, Colgate, Motorola, Molycorp, Bunge, Raytheon, Motorola, and BP.