Gold prices fluctuate; oil ends higher

Gold prices fluctuated narrowly Tuesday as traders hesitated to push prices heavily in either direction before the Federal Reserve offered its latest take on the state of the economy.

In other commodity markets, oil prices declined through most of the session then turned higher at the close. Industrial metals mostly bounced back from the slide of a day earlier, while agriculture futures finished in a range.

Gold traders were awaiting cues from the Fed's regularly scheduled August meeting, said Jon Nadler, an analyst with Kitco Bullion Dealers, in a client note.

Investors spent the day unsure what direction to take because the Fed did not make its usual statement until after the close of trading in several commodities markets. The central bank said in its economic assessment that its predominant concern "remains the risk that inflation will fail to moderate as expected."

December gold fell $1 to settle at $682.30 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The metal moved higher in after-hours electronic activity. Silver prices picked up 6.2 cents to settle at $13.095. The U.S. dollar rose against major world currencies.

As expected, the Fed held its benchmark rate steady at 5.25 percent _ an important support for the U.S. dollar.

Meanwhile, crude and gasoline futures jumped in the last hour of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after ConocoPhillips said it shut down units at two East Coast refineries due to operational issues, according to a Dow Jones Newswires report. Energy futures had spent much of the day in a slump after oil prices sloughed off $3.42, or 4.5 percent, on Monday.

Light, sweet crude finished 36 cents higher at $72.42 a barrel on the Nymex. Gasoline also turned higher before the close, adding 1.83 cents to end at $1.9442 a gallon.

Energy traders were awaiting a weekly report on petroleum inventories due Wednesday from the Energy Information Administration.

Market analysts expect the report to show gasoline stockpiles rising by 1 million barrels, according to a Dow Jones Newswires poll. Refinery utilization is projected to increase for the seventh straight week, and U.S. crude inventories are forecast to drop by 2 million barrels as a result of the expected growth in refinery demand. The data cover the week ended Aug. 3.

Overseas, industrial metals mostly rebounded from a two-day slump as investors took lower prices as a buying opportunity. Copper, lead and zinc all posted gains on the London Metal Exchange, and tin jumped more than 3 percent. Only nickel prices slipped.

On the Nymex, copper for September delivery closed 3.3 cents higher to $3.5065 a pound.

Elsewhere, investors in agriculture futures have been positioning themselves ahead of Friday's report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which will tally the size of the nation's corn and soybean crops. DTN analyst Gary Wilhelmi noted the market is contending with "a huge range of estimates" for the corn crop, from 12.4 billion to 13.2 billion bushels.

"That's double the norm, so there is a lot of uncertainty," he said.

The U.S. corn crop is under pressure, with increasing demand for corn coming from the ethanol industry. December corn gained 9 cents to close at $3.52 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade.

CBOT wheat prices fell 1.5 cents to settle at $6.625 a bushel, while soybeans added 12.75 cents to end at $8.6275 a bushel.