Gold Settles Higher, Then Slips In Electronic Trade After Fed Beige Book

Gold prices settled higher Wednesday, then pulled back in electronic trading shortly after the release of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s Beige Book. The report, which offers a snapshot of domestic economic activity, appeared to strengthen the case for a Fed interest-rate hike in June. August gold was at $1,273.70 an ounce in electronic trading. Prices gained $9.70, or 0.8%, to settle at $1,275.40 an ounce for the session. For the month, prices, tracking the most-active contracts, rose about 0.6%, according to FactSet data.