June gold futures are expected to open floor trading in New York around $4 an ounce higher Wednesday, based on electronic activity ahead of the pit session at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. July silver is expected to be up 15 cents an ounce. At 7:52 a.m. EDT, spot gold was trading up $4.35 to $896.95. In other markets that have the potential to impact metals in the short term, the euro is up to $1.3275 from $1.3149 late Tuesday afternoon. In screen trading ahead of the pit open, the June S&P 500 futures are up 7.60 points to 859.40. June crude oil is up 82 cents to $50.74 a barrel in overnight activity. A two-day meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee winds up Wednesday, with a statement expected around 2:15 p.m. EDT (1615 GMT). In the meantime, the two main U.S. reports are advance first-quarter gross domestic product at 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT), with a contraction of 4.6% forecast, and weekly energy-inventory data at 10:30 a.m. EDT (1430 GMT). In New York Tuesday, gold futures settled below $900 an ounce, pressured by weak Indian sales, lack of buying amid the swine-flu scare and fund selling. June gold fell $14.60, or more than 1.6%, to settle at $893.60 an ounce July silver fell 55.9 cents, or more than 4.3%, to settle at $12.426. Comex gold warehouse stocks were down 101 ounces at 8,453,201 ounces Tuesday, while silver stocks were up 203,678 ounces at 116,221,328 ounces.

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