Gold drops on technical selling

Gold futures on the COMEX division of the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped Wednesday on technical selling.

The most active gold contract for December delivery fell 6.4 U. S. dollars, or 0.53 percent, to settle at 1,206 dollars per ounce in floor trading.

But gold rebounded about 1 percent in electronic trading after the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting showed that the central bankers were concerned about the burgeoning U.S. dollar and the global economic slowdown.

Still, market analysts believed that the bullish outlook for the U.S. dollar is likely to constrain any potential rallies of gold.

As Chinese markets returned from a one-week National Day holiday Wednesday, investors were also watching the market to gauge buying interest in China, the world's major gold consumer.

Silver for December delivery lost 17.6 cents, or 1.02 percent, to close at 17.064 dollars per ounce. Platinum for January delivery rose 5 dollars, or 0.4 percent, to close at 1,266.9 dollars per ounce.