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Speculation that the Federal Reserve could start easing off its support for the economy helped knock commodity prices down Tuesday. Charles Evans, who votes on the Fed's policy as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, said the Fed could start scaling back its bond buying later this year. Gold fell $19.90, or 2 percent, to $1,282.50 an ounce, while silver sank 19.7 cents, or 1 percent, to $19.523 an ounce. Traders often buy gold in the belief that the Fed's efforts would weaken the dollar and spur higher inflation, driving prices for gold and other precious metals higher. Hints from Fed officials that the bank may change course this year have battered commodity prices. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note was unchanged from late Monday at 2.64 percent. Among other companies in the news: The Washington Post Co. rose $24.30, or 4 percent, to an even $593 after the company announced late Monday that it would sell its namesake newspaper to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. CVS Caremark sank $1.73, or 3 percent, to $59.89 after the drugstore operator lowered its earnings target for the year. Molson Coors Brewing gained $3.18, or 6 percent, to $53.26. The company reported better earnings and revenue than analysts had expected, helped by sales in central Europe. Molson bought the Czech Republic-based brewer StarBev last year.
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