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Gold Inches Above $1,300 After Yesterday's Drubbing

Gold prices are higher on Wednesday morning, bouncing back after Tuesday's sharp fall. Mounting tensions in Ukraine appear to be contributing a bit to the yellow metal's rise.

However, weak inflation data from the U.S. and a likely drop in demand from China due to an economic slowdown are capping gold's gains.

Gold futures for June are up $3.00 or 0.23 percent at $1,303.30 an ounce

On Tuesday, gold futures slipped from a three-month high and lost over two percent to end at $1,300.30 an ounce, with profit taking and the greenback's rise against a basket of major currencies dragging down prices.

Silver for May delivery is up $0.119 or 0.61 percent at $19.608 an ounce.

Meanwhile, copper is up $0.020 or 0.66 percent at $3.007 per pound.

Investors will be looking out for the Commerce Department's data on housing starts for March, due at 8:30 am ET.

Economists expect housing starts to come in at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 965,000 units, while building permits are expected at 1.01 million units.

At 9:15 am ET, the Federal Reserve is scheduled to release its industrial production report for March. The consensus estimates call for a 0.4 percent month-over-month increase in industrial production, while capacity utilization may have edged down 0.1 points to 78.7 percent.

Investors will also be looking forward to Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen's speech at the Economic Club of New York at 12:15 pm ET, and Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher's speech on the U.S. and regional economic outlook in Austin, Texas at 1:25 pm ET.

The Federal Reserve is due to release its Beige Book report, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions from each of the 12 Federal Reserve districts.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Market Analysis

First quarter growth data from China gained the maximum focus this week as trends in the massive emerging economy impact its trading partners. Elsewhere, the IMF released its latest global macroeconomic projections. Read our story to find out why comments from the Fed Chair Powell damped rate cut expectations. Meanwhile, there was some survey data that kindled hopes of a recovery in manufacturing. In the U.K., inflation data for March revealed some confusing trends.

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