Gold modestly lower

Gold prices shifted modestly lower on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday, dropping $22.90 to settle at $1,555.50 per troy ounce.

Silver shed 62 cents and closed at $26.37 per troy ounce.

Commodities have held relatively steady, as heads of state are meeting for a European Union summit to discuss policy solutions to contain or turn around a spreading sovereign debt crisis.

On Thursday equities on Wall Street closed slightly lower. The dollar index rose 0.22 percent to 82.72 on the Intentional Exchange.

The euro fell to $1.244 from Wednesday's $1.2468. Against the yen, the dollar fell to 79.45 yen from 79.73 yen.

The British pound fell to $1.5512 from $1.5566. The dollar rose to 1.0333 Canadian dollars from 1.0251 Canadian.