Gold prices edge down

Silver changes near unchanged mark

Gold prices edged down on Wednesday, 26 November 2014 in muted, pre-Thanksgiving trade, catching their breath after a solid advance so far this month. A dearth of bullish fundamental news recently and a bearish chart posture are keeping gold prices on the defensive. U.S. trading activity wound down as the day progressed Wednesday, ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday. Typically, Friday finds one of the lightest-volume trading days of the year for U.S. markets.

December gold finished down 50 cents, or less than 0.1%, at $1,196.60 an ounce, continuing to hold below the key $1,200 level. It's up 2.1% in the month to date, having dipped just 0.1% so far in this holiday-shortened week.

December silver settled unchanged at $16.55 an ounce.

A fairly heavy slate of U.S. economic data released Wednesday did not move the markets much, as U.S. traders had their minds on a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday.

Economic reports on Wednesday were mostly disappointing. Weekly jobless claims spiked to the highest level in 11 weeks, in a sign that hiring may have slowed down a bit. Consumer spending climbed by less than expected in October, while inflation remained below the Federal Reserve's target rate of 2%. Durable-goods orders rose, but thanks largely to orders for military aircraft.

In overnight news, a European Central Bank official hinted the ECB could begin buying government bonds (quantitative easing) early in 2015. The ECB vice president's remarks were a bit disappointing to those market watchers who thought the ECB might make the move at its meeting on 4 December 2014.

A German government 10-year bond auction on Wednesday fetched a record low yield that averaged 0.74%. This underscores investors in Europe continue to be skittish about the European Union economy and are content to be safe with low-yielding German bonds.

There was another report out Wednesday that said demand for physical gold in China and India continues to increase, most likely due to bargain hunters snapping up gold due to the recent price slide.

The market place is looking ahead to Thursday's OPEC meeting. Some believe the beleaguered oil cartel could reduce its overall daily oil production quota, or at least call for strict adherence to existing quotas, most of which are ignored by OPEC nations.

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