Gold closed lower Wednesday, tracking the euro's declines against the dollar, after a tender for cheap European Central Bank loans failed to convince investors the new lending program would go far in easing Europe's massive debt problems. Spot gold surrendered early gains to stand at $1,611.79 an ounce at 1453 EST (1953 GMT), well off an earlier high of $1,641.50 an ounce, and below its previous close at $1,614.79 an ounce.
The precious metal is still up by more than 13 percent for the year. US benchmark gold futures for February delivery finished off $4.00 an ounce at $1,613.60. Among other precious metals, silver went down about 1.2 percent to $29.36 an ounce. The gold/silver ratio, or the number of silver ounces needed to buy an ounce of gold, neared 55. This week, it hit its highest level since November 2010. Spot platinum was last at $1,424.25 an ounce, down from $1,426.49 late Tuesday. Spot palladium rose to $630.97 an ounce from $624.47 an ounce.
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