Gold ended the U.S. day session with moderate gains, on follow-through strength following Wednesday afternoon’s dovish-FOMC-minutes-inspired rally. Short covering in the futures market and bargain hunting in the cash market were featured. However, bearish outside markets—a firmer U.S. dollar index and lower crude oil prices—helped to push gold and silver prices well down from their daily highs. April Comex gold was last up $8.20 at $1,208.40 an ounce. March Comex silver last traded up $0.15 at $16.46 an ounce.
