Volatility in Gold Escalates as Bernanke’s Speech is Released

Volatility in the gold market escalated following release of Fed Chairman Ben
Bernakes prepared remarks from his speech in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. There, the
Fed Chairman did not specifically refer to a third round of quantitative easing
(QE3), despite noting that the U.S. economy has slowed considerably in recent
months. Gold futures per the COMEX December 2011 contract initially tumbled
from $1,794 to $1,767 upon the release of Bernankes speech, but quickly
rebounded to an intra-day high of $1,800.00. The yellow metal then pared its
gains, but remained higher by $28.30, or 1.6%, at $1,791.50 as of 10:30am ET.
While gold held firm, the broader markets initially extended their decline but
then quickly pared their losses.