Gold falls on Bernanke's mixed remarks

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange fell Wednesday as the US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke made mixed remarks before the Congress.

The most active gold contract for June delivery fell 10.2 dollars, or 0.74 percent, to settle at 1,367.4 dollars per ounce.

The US Fed Chairman Bernanke Wednesday said in his testimony to the Joint Economic Committee of the Congress that a "premature tightening of monetary policy would carry a substantial risk of slowing or ending the economic recovery." But he also said when answering a question from a congressional committee that the Fed's slowing of assets purchases could come in the next few meetings on the basis of the US consumer spending, US business spending and US hiring data. Minutes of the Fed's April 30-May 1 meeting revealed that a number of central bank officials were willing to slow assets purchases in their next meeting in June.

But ahead of Bernanke's testimony, Fed New York President Dudley said in an interview that officials will need three to four more months before they can decide when to tighten the monetary policy. Some market analysts do not expect any change in the Fed's QE policy until September 2013.

Bernanke's remarks about slowing assets purchases also propped up dollar Wednesday, which in turn dampened gold prices. The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback against a basket of major currencies, has risen nearly 6 percent so far in 2013, when gold prices have dropped more than 17 percent in the same period.

Silver for July delivery gained 1.7 cents, or 0.08 percent, to close at 22.472 dollars per ounce. Platinum for July delivery rose 10.8 dollars, or 0.74 percent, to close at 1,469.2 dollars per ounce.