SALON

Monday, Aug 27, 2012 8:00 PM UTC

Gold continues to rise ahead of Bernanke’s speech

By

Topics: From the Wires,

The price of gold is at its highest level in four months as anticipation builds ahead of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s speech later this week in Wyoming.

Gold for December delivery rose $2.70 Monday to finish at $1,675.60 per ounce — the highest it’s been since mid-April.

Bernanke’s remarks at the Fed’s annual conference are scrutinized for hints about what action the central bank may consider to help economic growth. His speech on Friday has taken on more importance this year because of the slower U.S. economy.

Fed officials have signaled that they may be ready to start another round of bond-buying to try to lower long-term interest rates. The goal would be to encourage more borrowing and spending and to help the stock market.

Gold and other commodities benefited from previous Fed bond-buying. Low interest rates pressured the dollar, and because commodities are priced in dollars, a weaker dollar makes them a bargain for traders who use other currencies.

In addition, gold often is used as a hedge against inflation.

Sterling Smith, a commodities specialist at Citibank Institutional Group, said that he believes the recent trend of higher prices is built on expectations that the Fed will take some type of action.

There also are lingering concerns about how European leaders are going to resolve the region’s debt crisis and whether the European Central Bank will approve stimulus measures.

Commodity trading was light across the board because of a bank holiday in the United Kingdom and the upcoming Labor Day weekend in the U.S.

In energy trading, oil prices fell as concerns eased about supply disruptions in the Gulf of Mexico from Tropical Storm Isaac. In addition, traders questioned whether the government would release oil from U.S. reserves.

Benchmark oil fell 68 cents to finish at $95.47 per barrel in New York.

Heating oil rose 0.17 cent to end at $3.1118 per gallon, and gasoline gained 7.68 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $3.1548 per gallon. Natural gas fell 4.9 cents to $2.653 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Other metals prices were mixed. December silver rose 42.8 cents to end at $31.137 per ounce, September copper fell 0.7 cent to $3.4765 per pound, October platinum dropped $1.20 to $1,553.20 per ounce and September palladium gained $2.60 to $654.70 per ounce.

In agricultural commodities, orange juice futures fell 3.5 percent after Isaac veered to the west, raising expectations that Florida’s orange groves would not sustain heavy damage. Orange juice for November delivery fell 4.15 cents to end at $1.138 per pound.

December wheat fell 7.25 cents to $8.8125 per bushel, December corn dropped 7.75 cents to $8.0075 per bushel, and November soybeans ended down 12.75 cents at $17.1875 per bushel.

More Sandy Shore.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Journalists file suit against Manning's trial secrecy: Plaintiffs including Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange demand press, public access to trial and documents
165 points166 points | comment
vote
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship - The 18-year-old rejected a deal that would have labeled her a sex offender and placed her under house arrest
151 points152 points | 68 comments
vote
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship - The 18-year-old rejected a deal that would have labeled her a sex offender and placed her under house arrest
147 points148 points | 98 comments
vote
Report: Nearly a quarter of Americans struggle to afford food
139 points140 points | 13 comments
vote
Ted Cruz against the world - How the Junior Senator is igniting the GOP civil war
77 points78 points | 21 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations