Gold at 2 and half week high, Euro Gains Against Dollar

Gold prices surge ended lower on Wednesday after surging in a 5 day rally and ended close to 2 and a half week high Tuesday as a result of expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates until September. Also the U.S. dollar index has been weak recently that prop up the prices of precious metals.

Both Gold and silver have gained some momentum, the April Comex gold was last up $5.10 at $1,192.80 an ounce, it peaked at $1,195.30. May Comex silver was last up $0.049 at $16.94 an ounce. The Gold's 5-day rally that started when the U.S. Federal Reserve last week warn about the U.S. economy and the pace of any rate-hike.

Analyst expects the price of Gold could go up to $1,200 in the immediate future and $1,240 in the next quarter.

The demand for gold which do not pay interest had been hurt by expectations of a near-term rate hike, however it all change when the U.S. Federal Reserve surprised investors by indicating that they won't rush raising the interest rates. They may hold it to current level up to at least September.

A weaker dollar also makes bullion cheaper for holders of other currencies, and increases its appeal as a hedge.

The Euro has edged out the US dollar early Wednesday. It went up sharply against the dollar about 0.5% in early European trade to $1.0966, well above its recent 12-year low of under $1.05.

The euro also gained against the yen and the British pound. Brent crude oil rose 0.1% to $55.14 a barrel.

Ericsson To Downsize 2,200 Swedish Jobs to Cut Cost

Ericsson AB will be downsizing their workforce and about 2,200 jobs in Sweden will be cut to cut cost which is part of the company's cost-reduction plan to improve profitability as a result of slowing sales. The majority of it will be in the research and development and supply functions, it is about 2% of the company's workforce. The plan was announced back in November to lessen spending by 9 billion kronor ($1 billion) over three years.

Ericsson is the world’s largest manufacturer of wireless networks. Their goal is to boost earnings since their main rivals Nokia Oyj and Huawei Technologies Co. are beating them out in sales growth amid a prolonged period of slow industry wide expansion. The company predicts that the wireless-network gear market will grow at an average 2 to 4% a year through 2017.

About half of the positions affected by the cutbacks are in Stockholm, while Ericsson will shut its operations in Katrineholm, according to Ericsson. They have also axed 1,550 jobs in the Sweden back in 2012. Fourth-quarter sales per worker totaled about $77,500, compared with $87,000 at Finnish rival Nokia, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.