Gold Prices Hit $1628, Fed Beige Book Points to Slowdown

Chris Mullen at GoldSeek.com wraps up Wednesday's action...

Gold Prices climbed to a new record intraday high above $1625 in Wednesday's Asian trade before falling back to $1615.60 at about 7:45am EST. Gold Prices then rose to yet another new high of $1628.80 by midmorning in New York, but then fell into the close and ended near their late session low of $1608.55 with a loss of 0.09%.

The Gold Price in Euros climbed to about €1125.

Silver Prices fell back to $40.638 in London before they rose to as high as $41.427 in New York, but then fell to as low as $40.193 in early afternoon trade and ended with a loss of 0.34%.

Silver and Gold Mining stocks fell throughout most of trade and ended almost 3% lower on the day.

Platinum lost $3.20 to $1800.80, and copper fell a few cents to about $4.44.

Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicated that economic activity continued to grow; however, the pace has moderated in many Districts. The six Districts nearest the Atlantic seaboard reported a slowdown in activity since the previous Beige Book report; activity was little changed in the Atlanta District and unchanged or slightly improved in the Richmond District. 

Of the other six Districts, the Minneapolis District reported political and weather-related disruptions that temporarily slowed growth, and the Dallas District slowed to a moderate pace of growth. The remaining four Districts continued to grow modestly. The previous Beige Book reported a slower growth rate for four Districts, seven Districts growing at a steady pace, and one District with faster growth.

Oil extended lower after the Energy Information Administration reported that crude inventories rose 2.3 million barrels, gasoline inventories rose 1.0 million barrels, and distillates rose 3.4 million barrels.

The US Dollar fell to a new record low against the Swiss franc at one point, but it then rose in late trade and ended with a decent gain as the Euro dropped rather markedly after German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble raised doubts about last week's proposal to solve Europe's debt problems.

US Treasuries remained weak after today's $35 billion 5-year note auction sold at a high yield of 1.58% with a bid to cover of 2.62.

The Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P fell roughly 2% on worries about debt and deficits.

Among the big names making news in the market Wednesday were Dunkin' Brands, Wal-Mart, Boeing, WellPoint, Citigroup, Cargill, Conoco, and Wells Fargo.

Thursday at 8:30am EST brings Initial Jobless Claims for 7/23 expected at 415,000 and at 10am is the Pending Home Sales report for June expected at -3.0%.

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