From Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com...

Gold Prices rose about 1% to as high as $940.75 by early trade in New York on Monday.

But the Gold Market then steadily sold off for the rest of the session and ended at about its low of the session with a loss of 1.55% after US Treasury secretary Henry Paulson unveiled a 218-page plan that overhauls the regulatory system and essentially gives the Federal Reserve more power to oversee the entire US financial system.

Highlights include the merging of the SEC and CFTC, a new federal Mortgage Origination Commission, and many other far reaching steps that have not been attempted since the Great Depression. But all of it is subject to Congressional approval which most assuredly will be a lengthy process.

Silver saw nearly 30 cent gains at one point, but it also sold off for most of the rest of trade and ended with a loss of 3.75%.

The Gold Price in Euros fell to about €580, platinum gained $10 to $2010, and copper remained at about $3.85.

Gold and silver mining equities fell more than 3% by mid-afternoon, but they then rallied back higher in the last couple of hours of trade and ended with only about 2% losses.

Oil fell on a lower demand outlook and restored output in Iraq as the US Dollar index rebounded on a better than expected Chicago PMI reading, though Dollar gains were minimal as the euro rose on a high Eurozone inflation reading.

Treasuries rose as traders remain concerned about the overall health of the economy. While Chicago PMI came in higher than expected, it still gave a reading below 50 which indicates contraction in manufacturing activity.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P rose slightly on the last day of the first quarter which overall turned in the worst quarterly performance in over five years for the major indices.

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