Gold slips a touch, silver holds steady

Gold prices moved slightly lower and silver held steady on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday. Comex gold gave up $8.10 to hit $1,684.30 per troy ounce, as equities rose on Wall Street, pulling attention away from metals. Silver added 4 cents to close at $32.24 an ounce. Against the dollar, the euro was $1.3316 from Tuesday's $1.3322. The dollar dropped against the yen, hitting 88.6 yen from 88.71 yen. The dollar index was flat, rising 0.06 percent to 79.92 on the International Exchange. The dollar was mixed in Asia and broadly stronger in Europe. The British pound rose to $1.5841 from $1.5839. The dollar dropped to 7.7529 Hong Kong dollar from 7.7538 HKD.