Commodities Update — Gold dips; Wheat down; Copper prices fall on global slowdown worries

RIYADH: Gold prices fell on Wednesday as the dollar recovered slightly, piling pressure on greenback-priced bullion alongside firm Treasury yields and an aggressive inflation stance by the US Federal Reserve chief.

Spot gold dropped 0.2 percent to $1,810.49 per ounce, by 0557 GMT. 

US gold futures slipped 0.6 percent to $1,808.10.

Silver down, Platinum up

Spot silver fell 0.2 percent to $21.57 per ounce, while platinum gained 0.2 percent to $953.32. 

Palladium eased 0.5 percent to $2,041.87.

Wheat down

US wheat futures fell in early Asian trading on Wednesday on profit-taking after two sessions of gains, but soybeans edged higher to hit a more than two-week high, while corn was on track for a second session of decline.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was down 1.7 percent at $12.56 a bushel, as of 0123 GMT.

CBOT soybeans edged up 0.1 percent to $16.79 bushel, extending gains into a seventh session.

CBOT corn shed 0.3 percent to $7.98-1/2 a bushel, retreating after touching a two-week high on Monday.

Copper falls

Copper prices slipped on Wednesday, as bets of big US rate hikes following hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials, and a recent batch of weak economic readings from China put the focus back on global economic growth concerns.

Benchmark three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange was down 1.1 percent at $9,263 a ton, as of 0713 GMT, after hitting a more than one-week high of $9,434 on Tuesday.

The most-active June copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange ended daytime trading down 0.4 percent at $10,574.69.

(With input from Reuters)