With the decline in oil prices, inflationary pressures are easing for the moment. The Federal Reserve’s policy makers all acknowledge as much. But that has not halted their debate over whether to raise interest rates now to avoid higher inflation in the future.

Gold fell more than 3 percent, extending losses it posted in Asia, as a strengthening dollar and fears over weakening global growth led to a sell-off in precious metals.

Gold fell more than 3 percent, extending losses it posted in Asia, as a strengthening dollar and fears over weakening global growth led to a sell-off in precious metals.

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Gold prices have hit an eight-week low as the dollar rebounded against the euro, hitting $862 an ounce Thursday before setting at around $863.

Financial industry executives are mustering on Capitol Hill to head off a Congressional effort to rewrite the rules for the nation’s energy markets, saying it could unsettle already nervous markets and push more energy trading abroad, beyond the reach of domestic regulators.

Crude prices may have made or be close to making their highs, a technical report by PVM oil associates said Wednesday.

Alcoa shares hopped about 4 percent in extended trading Tuesday as the company turned in a profit and sales that were lower than last year but still managed to beat expectations.

The current dip in gold prices is temporary and demand for the precious metal is likely to rise in the medium term, Ronald-Peter Stoferle, international equities analyst at Erste Bank, wrote in a market note Wednesday.

In Washington, financial speculators are being blamed for high gas prices, soaring grocery bills and volatile commodity markets, and lawmakers are lashing out at market regulators for not cracking down on them more vigorously.

The phenomenal rise in oil prices show signs of a bubble, but a crash is not imminent, billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros told U.S. lawmakers on Tuesday.

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has launched an investigation into possible price manipulation in U.S. oil markets, may soon probe trading in other commodities, analysts said.

The US economy is likely to weaken even further next year, but inflation is mainly contained to oil and other commodities, Merrill Lynch economist David Rosenberg told CNBC.

After six years of stumbling against the euro, the dollar may be showing signs of getting back on its feet.

First came copper, then oil, wheat, fertilizer and coal. Now the surging global economy is clamoring for yet another commodity: rusting cars, refrigerators and washing machines.